By Patrick Miles

The Australian
05feb01

A FULL complement of singles players, including Mark Philippoussis, is the long-term goal for Australia's Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald.

The new skipper wants to take advantage of the rule, introduced a year ago, that allows substitutions in the reverse singles on the final day of a tie.

Fitzgerald's ideal team would contain Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter and Philippoussis, the top players in the country, plus another to team up in the doubles with any of the first three.

This week in Perth, for his first tie in charge, Fitzgerald has the services of Hewitt and Rafter in singles with Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs expected to play doubles against Ecuador.

Fitzgerald said he had held a fruitful discussion with Philippoussis recently about the Davis Cup and that hope was alive the Victorian would make himself available after he has recovered from surgery on his left knee.

"We had a terrific conversation for about an hour and a half," Fitzgerald said.

"We had a very positive talk and I think we both enjoyed the communication.

"I feel that it's the captain's job to have an honest and open relationship with the players, to constantly be calling them and seeing how they are, and trying to look after them.

"It was very positive. There was a very good response from Mark."

Philippoussis is on a fast track to fitness after undergoing arthroscopic surgery in the last week of 2000. He is training hard on a daily basis and is expected to return to the tour full-time at the Kruger St Jude tournament in Memphis on February 19, before defending his title in San Jose the following week.

In the event of a full recovery, he would be available for the second round of the Davis Cup in the week beginning April 2, providing Australia can see off Ecuador on grass this weekend.

Woodbridge and Arthurs played doubles together at the AAPT Championships in Adelaide during the first week of the year and did enough to impress the captain.

"They initiated that combination themselves, and that certainly interests me," Fitzgerald said. "There's a lot of good tennis left in Todd."

Referring to recent efforts against Switzerland and Spain, Fitzgerald said Australia had lost a couple of crucial doubles matches.

His solution could lie in choosing the big three – Hewitt, Rafter and Philippoussis – who have never played in the same tie for Australia.

"The three guys with the highest singles rankings that we've got, I think they're among the best doubles players in the world – all three of them," Fitzgerald said.

"With those sort of possibilities of combinations, there's some good firepower there.

"I think that the new rule that began last year lends itself a little bit more towards that system – maybe three singles players.

"But, ideally, you want four guys in there who can play singles. You can't always get that but it's certainly a big bonus if you've got at least three who can play. Then you can really mix your team around.

"I think the advantage we have there is that those three top guys, the guys with the highest rankings, they all can play doubles extremely well, so that's a huge bonus."

Hewitt and Rafter are both grand slam doubles title-holders – Hewitt with Max Mirnyi, of Belarus, and Rafter with the Swede Jonas Bjorkman.

Fitzgerald said he is also scouting for "orange boys" to supplement the Davis Cup squad in the hope that one of them will turn out to be another Hewitt.

Fitzgerald and the coach Wally Masur, who took over from John Newcombe and Tony Roche at the start of the year, have been on the road as much as possible in the search for promising juniors.

In the event that one or more stand out, they will be invited to join the Davis Cup squad.

Fitzgerald, realising the breadth of his job description and the importance of finding new talent, is prepared to look as far as the under-14 level for prospects.

"The big thing is to keep trying to bring new guys through," he said.

"You've got to always try to have these young guys coming up and try to have a production line.

"We'd probably be looking at some 16-year-olds to get a chance to go and experience it. Maybe even some kids who are a little bit older but never had the chance to experience it.

"We believe it's a fairly exclusive club – we probably won't be taking huge numbers, it's safe to say.

"But we want the guys who go to feel really special and join in, as has been the history of Australia in the past.

"It's a special thing to be invited and to go and experience the professionalism of the guys who are there.

"The big thing for me is to get some kids involved who should go and experience what a Davis Cup tie is all about – it inspires them.

"They get to see what it takes and what sort of workload they need to be able to handle."

Deeper in the well of Australian tennis lies talent waiting to spring forth and Fitzgerald is determined to gather the most pure.

"There are some terrific 14-year-olds and 12-year-olds around the place," he said.

"I've seen quite a few of those. I've seen some in Brisbane, in Perth, in Melbourne and in Adelaide.

"You've got to be conscientious and get out there and see those kids and show them that you're interested, that there's a support base there when they need it.

"We need to bring more players on."