7^th January, 2001

New Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald has hinted that he is unlikely to adopt a rigid all-or-nothing policy on availability, despite Lleyton Hewitt last week urging Mark Philippoussis to commit himself to national duty ''for the long haul''.

Fitzgerald met Philippoussis before Christmas for about 90 minutes and came away encouraged by what he had heard. ''Mark's made it clear that Davis Cup is something he wants to do,'' Fitzgerald said.

But how often? Hewitt and Pat Rafter are seeking a full-year commitment, but Fitzgerald was cautious when asked how he would respond if, for example, Philippoussis declined to play a possible quarter-final in Brazil because it did not suit his schedule. The world No.11 had surgery on his left knee last month, which will rule him out of Australia's first round tie against Ecuador in Perth from February 9-11.

''I think with Mark, you've got to take into consideration he's got a different body than some of the other guys, and that's pretty obvious when you see what's just happened with his knee,'' Fitzgerald said.

''He's had more problems than the average player; he's got a big body type. It's the captain's job to work with different needs and different bodies and the main thing that I'm pleased about is that Mark wants to play, and I believe I can work well with him.

''As a captain, and I'm just feeling my way because I haven't done a tie yet, you'd probably be disappointed if all your players didn't want to play all the time, but it's an incredibly long year, and Mark's got a body that is a little different to some of the other guys, so there's two sides to the story.

''He wants to get his ranking up as high as he possibly can, like all the other guys do. I think the best deal is just to assess it if it happens.'' ''It's my job to get the best team on the court that I possibly can for every tie. If a player says he's injured, and you try and force him to play, that can be very detrimental. With Mark in the team it's probably the best team in the world, and we're just trying to get him to play as much as we can.

''With good communication, a good relationship and good understanding, I think that Mark will contribute heavily to Australia's future in Davis Cup.''

Fitzgerald said although the Victorian was disappointed to miss the local summer circuit, he was also relieved to discover the source for his ongoing knee problems, after an initial MRI scan had been negative.

John Newcombe's successor confirmed that he planned to return to the practice of taking along a promising young player for the type of ''orange boy'' experience that proved so valuable early in Hewitt's career. One of the priorities for Australian tennis is to find future singles back-up for Hewitt once Pat Rafter retires, and Fitzgerald said he had identified quite a few talented players aged 12 and older while travelling around Australia in the past three months.

Represented by New South Wales trio Ryan Henry, Todd Reid and Raf Durek, Australia also won the 16-and-under World Youth Cup last year for the first time in more than a decade, and Fitzgerald said he had been impressed last week in Adelaide by the performance of 20-year-old ACT qualifier Alun Jones.
''We might bring a young kid along for the experience, and there's also a couple of older guys who are late bloomers and one who springs to mind is Alun Jones,'' Fitzgerald said. ''He's certainly worth persevering with. He's not a young kid, and he's very raw, but he's got a lot of ability.''

There is also likely to be a reduction in the size of the Australian entourage, which swelled with hitting partners towards the end of John Newcombe's reign. A squad for Perth will be named during the Australian Open.
''I think it's a fairly exclusive club,'' Fitzgerald said. ''There won't be a cast of thousands.''