23 February, 2001

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Mark Philippoussis ended qualifier Dmitry Tursunov's hopes of winning his very first ATP Tour tournament.

Philippoussis, looking completely healed from his December knee surgery, used booming serves to beat the 18-year-old Russian 6-3 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Kroger St. Jude tennis tournament.

``So far, so good,'' said Philippoussis, who had a ligament repaired in his left knee.

``I'm pretty much back to where I have to be. I'm moving well, and - knock on wood - the knee's holding up fine.''

The second-seeded Australian now is in the semifinals for the third time in six appearances here. He will play third-seeded Tommy Haas, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over fifth-seeded Jan-Michael Gambill.

On the other side of the draw, Sebastien Lareau upset 12th-seeded Jason Stoltenberg 7-6 (6), 6-4 to reach his first semifinal since Hong Kong in 1998.

Tursunov wasn't guaranteed a spot in this tournament when he came to Memphis, hoping for some work on the practice courts.

Thanks to some withdrawals and victories in two qualifying matches, he was able to get into the main draw at an ATP event for the first time. He capitalized by dropping only two sets in beating Kevin Kim, seventh-seeded Greg Rusedski and George Bastl to reach the quarterfinals.

But Tursunov, who moved to the United States when he was 12, ran out of magic against the equally hard-hitting Philippoussis.

Philippoussis broke Tursunov in the eighth game as Tursunov either sent strokes long or into the net, and the Australian closed out the first set in 37 minutes.

He didn't need that much time in the second as he started by breaking Tursunov in the first game and again in the fifth. Tursunov didn't even manage a point off his serve as Philippoussis went up 4-1 and served out for the victory with three of his 14 aces in his final service game.

``I wasn't sure what to expect since it was the first time I was playing him, and I just had to concentrate on what I was doing and play my game. I'm happy with the way it went,'' Philippoussis said.

Haas, who won this tournament in 1999, broke Gambill in the seventh game of the first set, and he broke him twice in the second as Gambill struggled in winning only two points in those games.

Gambill said Haas ran him back and forth across the court and took advantage of his problems with shots in the corners.

By Phil Stukenborg

The Commercial Appeal

24 February 2001

Blame Pete Sampras. That No. 2 seed Mark Philippoussis and No. 3 seed Tommy Haas are meeting in one semifinal of the Kroger St. Jude tennis tournament is his fault. Had Sampras chosen to bypass the $800,000 ATP event,Philippoussis and Haas would have been the top two seeds and the favorites to play in a made-for-Fox Sports Net final.

Instead, Philippoussis and Haas ended up in the same half of the 48-player draw. Today at 1 p.m. at The Racquet Club, they will stage a high-profile slugfest with the winner earning the chance at his second Memphis title.

But will the victor in the Philippoussis-Haas match be Sunday's champion?

"I wouldn't say that,'' Philippoussis said Friday after his straight-set quarterfinal win over Russian teenager Dmitry Tursunov. "Sure, Pete's out, which does open up the draw. But it's anyone's tournament still.''

Had Sampras, the top seed, been in top form, he likely would have advanced and been the favorite in one semifinal, advancing to play either Philippoussis or Haas on Sunday.

Without Sampras in the draw's top half, today's 7 p.m. semifinal between Italy's Davide Sanguinetti and Canada's Sebastien Lareau lacks marquee value. Neither player finished in the top 70 of last year's ATP Champions Race.

That gives the semifinal between Haas and Philippoussis the feel of this tournament's final.

"Mark and me are playing extremely well this week,'' Haas said. "It's Mark's first tournament this year and it looks like he is playing some good tennis. He's won here before, the same as me, he plays big, has the huge first serve, the huge second serve, it's going to be a good match."

Haas, the 1999 Memphis champion, advanced to his third straight KSJ semifinal with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over American Jan-Michael Gambill, the No. 5 seed. Philippoussis won, 6-3, 6-2, to end the magical run f

Tursunov, 18, who reached the quarterfinals of the first ATP event he has played.

In the other quarterfinals, the 27-year-old Lareau, whose success on tour has been in doubles, beat 12th seed Jason Stoltenberg, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, and Sanguinetti, the No. 9 seed, outlasted Tennessee native Chris Woodruff, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in an exhausting match that lasted more than two hours. Woodruff had reached the quarterfinals by shocking Sampras in straight sets in the second round and ousting Goran Ivanisevic in the third round.

But he couldn't solve the counter-punching style of Sanguinetti, whose effortless court coverage and resilience earned him his first ATP semifinal since September. Those attributes came into play during the marathon first game of the final set, a 24-point affair that Sanguinetti gutted out.

"The first game of the third set was the longest game I've played in my life,'' Sanguinetti said. "I knew that whoever won that game was going to win the match.''

Woodruff admitted the match took a lot out of him, particularly the 24-point game. "I just hope he has enough energy left (for today),'' Woodruff said of Sanguinetti. "He is definitely playing well enough to get to the finals.''

Woodruff said Sanguinetti, because of his flat groundstrokes and slight build, deceives some opponents. "He doesn't look like the greatest athlete in the world walking around the locker room, but there is definitely a fire in there,'' Woodruff said.

Philippoussis had little trouble with Tursunov, who entered the quarterfinal having won 18 straight matches, including consecutive lower-level tourneys in Boca Raton, Fla., and Dallas.

After struggling with his serve in the first game of the match - Philippoussis had to save two break points - he breezed. He broke Tursunov to go up 5-3 in the first set and served out to win the set by blasting three aces. He opened the second set by breaking Tursunov and the rout was on.

"Every match has been tough, but I've been playing better and better,'' Philippoussis said. "I seem to be stepping up when I have to.''

Tursunov had reached the quarterfinals by qualifying over the weekend and winning three matches in the main draw, including a second-round upset of No. 7 Greg Rusedski.

"Basically, this week showed me I can stay on the court with these guys,'' Tursunov said. In a quarterfinal filled with double faults and unforced errors, Lareau eliminated Stoltenberg.

In reaching his first semifinal in nearly three years, Lareau took advantage of Stoltenberg's ineffective serve. Stoltenberg was broken to fall behind 3-1 in the opening set when he double-faulted three times, including on game point. Stoltenberg also double-faulted at set point in the tiebreaker.

"He had problems, especially in the first set, and that's why I got lucky and was able to break him twice,'' Lareau said. "He was going for it a lot on his second serve because he knew I was going for it (on my returns).''