Scud's a Davis doubt but door left open
Sydney Morning Herald
28 December 2000

Mark Philippoussis is unlikely to play in the Davis Cup first-round tie against Ecuador while he focuses on his individual goal of making the men's top five.

However, he has not closed the door on the prestigious international event.

The "doubtful" verdict came from Scud's coach Peter McNamara and Australian Davis Cup coach Wally Masur, who teamed up as doubles partners in Perth yesterday for a "legends" tournament in breezeless 40-degree heat.

McNamara and Masur said the 11th-ranked men's player in the world had met Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald to discuss his possible participation in the February tie in Perth.

Philippoussis had indicated he would likely miss the round and McNamara said the Scud had already planned a string of commitments overseas.

"But the door has been left open for Davis Cup and I'm sure you'll see Mark Philippoussis play Davis Cup in the near future," McNamara said.

"I can't categorically rule out that he's not going to play (in February) but I would say it's doubtful. Chances are he won't."

McNamara said he was looking at Philippoussis's future as a professional tennis player and "if Davis Cup comes into the equation as being relevant and positive then he will play".

McNamara said: "If there's too many negatives involved, the situation is detrimental to his future and, therefore, he wouldn't play. We have to think a lot through before he accepts to play in a tie, but the door's been left open and they haven't seen the last of Mark Philippoussis.

"I think there's nothing better than to have a Rafter-Hewitt-Philippoussis team because I don't think there's any stronger in the world."

Masur conceded Philippoussis was "probably not going to be available for the first tie", but said he would still study his form closely in coming weeks.

Masur will watch the upcoming Hopman Cup, and said it would be a "bonus" to see Philippoussis in action.

"He's obviously been doing some work over summer; I will be interested to see how he's hitting the ball. I suspect he'll be pretty sharp," Masur said.

The Davis Cup coach said he would be examining players' form in coming weeks as the February tie approached.

"There's a lot of tennis to be played before then and that's kind of handy for us, a bit of a luxury," he said.

Scud unlikely starter for Davis Cup
6: 41 PM AEST December 27 (Excite Australia)

Mark Philippoussis is unlikely to play in the Davis Cup first-round tie against Ecuador while he focuses on his individual goal of making the men's top five.

However, he has not closed the door on the prestigious international team's event.

The "doubtful" verdict came from Scud's coach Peter McNamara and Australian Davis Cup coach Wally Masur, who teamed up as doubles partners in Perth today for a "legends" tournament in breezeless 39.5 degree heat.

McNamara and Masur said the 11th-ranked men's player in the world had met Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald to discuss his possible participation in the February tie in Perth.

Philippoussis had indicated he would likely miss the round and McNamara said the Scud had already planned a string of commitments overseas.

"But the door has been left open for Davis Cup and I'm sure you'll see Mark Philippoussis play Davis Cup in the near future," he told AAP.

"I can't categorically rule out that he's not going to play (in February) but I would say it's doubtful.

"Chances are he won't."

McNamara said he was looking at Philippoussis' future as a professional tennis player "and if Davis Cup comes into the equation as being relevant and positive for Mark then he will play.

"If it's not positive and there's too many negatives involved, then the situation is detrimental to his future and therefore he wouldn't play.

"We have to think a lot through before he accepts to play in a tie but the door's been left open and they haven't seen the last of Mark Philippoussis.

"I think there's nothing better than to have a Rafter-Hewitt-Philippoussis team because I don't think there's any stronger in the world."

Masur conceded today that Philippoussis was "probably not going to be available for the first tie" but said he would nonetheless study his form closely in coming weeks.