The Australian

26 February 2001

By John Hogan

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS served notice of something special to come by winning the final the St Jude Classic in Memphis in his comeback from minor knee surgery.

It was unquestionably a remarkable effort, given that he had not played on the ATP circuit since losing to Marat Safin in the final of the Tennis Masters series in Paris last October.

He had surgery on December 28, forcing him to miss the Australian summer. Most players, and especially big men, need at least a tournament or two after an injury to get back into the swing of things, find their rhythm and footwork.

It should also be noted that the powerful Victorian fired immediately in a good field. One only had to look at the draw in Tennessee – it included Pete Sampras, Tommy Haas, Nicolas Lapentti and Jan-Michael Gambill - to realise the Scud was going to have to work for his Champions Race points.

Haas, who won the Adelaide tournament on the eve of the Australian Open, certainly made him work in their semi-final. But Philippoussis was rock solid and his 26 aces kept the German at bay before winning narrowly in straight sets.

In fact he advanced to the final without dropping a set.

Now 24, Philippoussis has seemingly knuckled down to working hard consistently under coach Peter McNamara.

Scud's former Davis Cup captain, John Newcombe, warned Philippoussis publicly in December that he would surrender the opportunity to join Pat Rafter as a Grand Slam singles champion unless he dedicates himself completely to the sport.

"It all depends on Mark," Newcombe said. "There's a couple of Grand Slams there for him but there's not a couple of Grand Slams there if he's not willing to commit imself to the task at hand. So far in his career he hasn't committed himself. There's no doubt in my mind he's top six in the world if he didn't compromise."

After reaching the US Open final in 1998, losing to Rafter, many said "it's only a matter of time" before Philippoussis wins a major. Well, time waits for no man and the big guy, injuries notwithstanding, has wasted plenty of it through a lack of maturity and desire.

In the past there seemed to be an attitude of "I'm content to be top 15" while watching the likes of Safin cruise past him to become a Grand Slam champion.

But now he has a different look about him; the look of a man who knows where he is going and is prepared to do whatever it takes to get there.

And he seems more relaxed with the media as well. I certainly like what I see of the new look Philippoussis. Having been one of his biggest critics since April 1998, I sincerely hope he goes on with it and takes his shares of the spoils this year.

His performance in Memphis may well be a big signal of what is to come.