SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Saturday, January 16, 1999

PAT Cash may not have been Mark Philippoussis's first choice as coach. Given the passing parade of those who have held the position before him, he might not have been in the top five.

But it has taken only six months for it to become abundantly clear that this is a player-coach relationship that should have come about much sooner than it did. And while coaching was about the last occupation Cash had in mind once his playing career ended early last year, when it comes to handling the gifted but erratic Philippoussis, there may be nobody better qualified.

Consider the similarities. Both were born and bred in Melbourne, were adept at other sports (Cash at Australian football, Philippoussis at soccer), are devout Hawthorn supporters and have a mutual contempt for the tennis establishment - not just in Australia, but throughout the world.

Cash claims his retirement had as much to do with the unwillingness of tennis authorities at home to reward him for services rendered over the previous 15 years as the wear, tear and general fatigue that comes from being on the wrong side of 30.

Philippoussis has endured a love-hate relationship with Tennis Australia and, in particular, Davis Cup leaders Tony Roche (a former coach) and John Newcombe. This culminated in his refusal to play in the opening-round match in Mildura which contributed to Australia's humiliating loss to Zimbabwe and, given the soft draw that followed, almost certainly robbed the country of a precious opportunity to win the competition.

At virtually his first meeting with Philippoussis, just before Wimbledon last year, Cash endeavoured to establish exactly how the player felt about representing his country. "I didn't know the history of it. I just wanted to know whether he wanted to play Davis Cup," is his recollection of their first meeting.

"If my duty to him is to make him the best player he can possibly be, then I had to determine whether he wanted to play Davis Cup because, not only would it make him a better tennis player, but it will also give him one of the greatest thrills of his life," said Cash.

It wasn't a precondition. The prospect of guiding Philippoussis was already attractive, but given his own heroics over various Davis Cup campaigns, Cash wanted to be sure that playing for Australia was somewhere on the agenda. When he was assured that it was, the partnership was forged in stone and the pair, in conjunction with fitness and conditioning guru Gavin Hopper, set about reclaiming Philippoussis's lustre in the tennis world.

The results have been outstanding. After deciding to play only at the last minute, Philippoussis advanced through to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. At the US Open, he won through to the final, where compatriot Pat Rafter emerged the winner in what was the first all-Australian final in New York since 1970. Last week, Philippoussis teamed with 15-year-old wunderkind Jelena Dokic to deliver Australia their first Hopman Cup championship in the 11 years the competition has been going. After a horrible opening match against Wayne Ferreira in Perth, Philippoussis dominated thereafter, not content merely to bludgeon his way to victory. There was a fair bit of thought behind what went on the court as well.

The same at Kooyong on Wednesday in the Colonial Classic when, after a shaky opening set in less than ideal conditions, he rolled up his sleeves and grafted a solid win over Tim Henman. Never mind that the tournament is an exhibition in the true sense of the word, there was a time when Philippoussis would have stepped onto the court, noted the swirly conditions and have quickly found himself on the end of a less-than-flattering scoreline.

These clear signs of growing maturity are the main reasons Philippoussis has been installed as the bookies' favourite for the Australian Open, which starts at Melbourne Park on Monday. And while Philippoussis won't, in true sporting fashion, take things more than one match at a time, he does confess to approaching the Pete Sampras-free Australian Open with great confidence and full of praise for the efforts of Cash.

"He's made me tougher and improved my all-round game," says Philippoussis. "My movement has improved and I'm playing the big points better."

That's the on-court stuff. Off court, the pair seem to be kindred spirits. "We get along very well," said Philippoussis. "We have fun off the court but play hard on it."

Some close to Cash note that the Philippoussis of today is not unlike Cash, the firebrand who won the Victorian Open at age 17 in 1982 and helped Australia to the Davis Cup with a win over Sweden the following year at Kooyong.

"Yeah. The barracking for Hawthorn is important. Mark knows I wouldn't have even considered it if he barracked for someone else," said Cash. "But really, how could you knock back the opportunity of working with someone like Mark?"

Cash prefers the term working to coaching. Theirs isn't a formal relationship, with Hopper the main man and Cash coming in for the four grand slam events and selected tournaments at other times of the year. Perhaps wisely, given the tumultuous relationships between the Philippoussis camp and the various coaches over the years, there is no contract. Either party can walk away when he sees fit, although the prospect of that seems unlikely for now.

"There's not a hell of a lot to work on because he's got the game, but there is plenty to work with," said Cash. "It's a matter of putting it together so that it works, just like a big jigsaw puzzle that needs all the pieces put back together."

When you embrace Pat Cash, you embrace his wife Emily and their children. Likewise, with Philippoussis. It's not just about working with Mark but also his father Nick who, while not spending nearly as much time on the road with his son as before, maintains a presence. For some coaches, that might have been a complication, but if there was something consistent about Cash when he played, it was that his father seemed to be forever at his side.

So Team Philippoussis is all harmony for now, with the Cash and Philippoussis camps embracing each other like long lost brothers.

Said Cash: "He listens and, importantly, he respects what I have to say. But he's become a much tougher competitor who's learning other ways to win, and he's done well in the past two grand slams, so we're doing something right."

Cash's friends note that his heart and soul have gone into coaching Philippoussis, although watching from the sidelines on game day will never replace being on the court himself.

Those days ended for good (on the regular ATP Tour at least) when he tired of the weekly phone calls from tournament directors apologising profusely that, unfortunately, they couldn't steer their way clear to granting him a wildcard into their tournaments.

What fires Cash these days (apart from Philippoussis on the eve of a grand slam) is what he claims is the "old-boy" network running both Tennis Australia and the ATP Tour. "I couldn't understand why nobody at Tennis Australia stood up for me after all the things I'd done for them and all the Davis Cup matches I played without asking for this and that.

"Nobody would stand up for me, so why would I want to be associated with them now? Who would want to be associated with people like that?"

Cash believes tennis authorities deserve praise for restoring the Australian Open to its former glory, but not for much else. "There aren't enough coaches and trainers and they just don't treat the players properly. And while I admit it's not easy to raise money in this environment, they do need a more professional attitude, to raise more sponsorship for junior tennis to get trainers and things like that. From what I see, a lot of the stuff hasn't changed in 15 years."

Such thinking probably puts him at odds with peers such as Paul McNamee, a former Davis Cup teammate and now the Open's tournament director, and others of his time who have maintained close links with the tennis establishment.

"I'm always going to be mates with those blokes, but that doesn't mean I want to play their game," said Cash.

Little wonder the Philippoussis camp has embraced him so. The Scud and the Davis Cup leadership have made their peace, but there will always be a slight mistrust, just as there was with Cash in his day. The same with the media, to whom Philippoussis has been civil, rather than hostile, this summer.

Cash said: "I've told Mark to never read a newspaper; never read anything you know you are going to be in because there's always something wrong, something negative. You can never win.

"Look, he's a nice kid, but they'll write stories, so you can't win. But the public love him, irrespective of what's written, and that's familiar to me because I always thought the public hated me. That's the impression I got from what was written in the media. But I realised after a while that they did like me and I think Mark realises people love him. They think he's a good player and they like him."

Just like Cash, who for all his intentions of retiring to a quiet life in London with his family, his music, business interests, a few senior tour events and a spot of commentating for Channel 7 and the BBC, is once again staring into the coalface. And loving it.

"I enjoy working with Mark, but joining him was like going from the frying pan into the fire. I got out of tennis because of the politics and then I go work for Mark. But it was a great opportunity. He's a great player and he's only going to get better."