abc.net.au

14 March 2001

Australia's Mark Philippoussis is a shock casualty in the first round of the Masters Tennis Series tournament at Indian Wells.

Philippoussis was defeated in three sets by little known American Marlin Fish 4-6, 7-6, 4-6.

Phillippousis then refused to commit himself to playing in the Davis Cup tennis quarter-final for Australia against Brazil.

After the match Phillippousis stated he would put his own tennis needs first before deciding on the Davis Cup tie in April.

"My number one priority is myself and my body that's the only thing I'm looking at," he said.

"There's some tough tournaments and after tough tournaments "I've got to look after myself and relax and if that means missing out on Davis Cup that means missing out on Davis Cup.

Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt won their first round matches in the tournament.

Rafter defeated Greg Rusedski in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.

Rafter says his serve was the reason he scored a convincing win.

"That was good today. The singles was great. I started serving well which I have struggled to do," he said.

"I've done a lot of work with Tony over the last few days and hit the ball pretty well and played the big points well so all in all today was really good."

Hewitt downed Albert Costa 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

Sportal

14 March 2001

Pat Rafter crushed in-form Greg Rusedski to move through to the second round of the Indian Wells Masters series in California.

Rusedski, who won his first tournament in 18 months last week and has four top ten scalps to his credit this year, was thoroughly outclassed by the Queenslander who won in straight sets 6-3 6-2.

Rafter controlled the pace of the match from the outset serving brilliantly and controlling the tempo from the net as he dispatched Rusedski’s attempted passing shots with ease.

Rusedski, didn’t help his cause double-faulting at key moments and never establishing any kind of effective net attack.

Double US Open champion Rafter will play French qualifier Arnaud DiPasquale in the second round.

Lleyton Hewitt also progressed to the next round but he dropped a set against Spaniard Albert Costa before easily taking out the match 6-2 5-7 6-1.

Hewitt's victory was a revenge win for a Davis Cup loss in the final last December.

"I definitely gave that match a few thoughts," said the 20-year-old from Adelaide. "It motivated me a bit more out there."

However, Mark Philippoussis's tournament is already over after he was defeated by little known American Mark Fish.

Philippoussis, who recently won his comeback tournament in Memphis, lost in three sets 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-4.

The 24-year-old Australian, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in December.

"I may have made my comeback a little early," said Philippoussis. "My body just wasn't ready for it, playing five tough matches to win Memphis."

Philippoussis called today's effort "a really ugly match." "I had no feel," he said. "I had no idea what to do when I got to the ball. It was ugly out there."

The Miami-based Aussie is looking forward to more rest and practice at his American base in Florida before next week's Masters tournament.

"I want to put this week behind me," he said. "There's another Masters. Obviously, I'd like to win every single one of them. I've got to put this behind me."

World number two Marat Safin also suffered a first round loss, going down in two sets to Sweden's Thomas Johansson 7-5 7-5.

Also sent wandering without a victory were fifth-seeded Swede Magnus Norman and 14th seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia.

Ecuador's Nicolas Lappenti dropped the first set then stormed to a 4-6 6-1 6-1 victory over Norman, who was coming off a runner-up finish last week in Scottsdale.

American Jan-Michael Gambill, who won the Delray Beach title on Sunday, bounced Hrbaty 6-4 6-3.

Seven seeds, led by number one Gustavo Kuerten, cleared the first-round hurdle today.

Joining the Brazilian French Open champion in the second round were Hewitt, Rafter, seventh-seeded Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, ninth-seeded Swede Thomas Enqvist, 10th seed Tim Henman of Britain and number 16 Sebastien Grosjean of France.

Hampered by a back injury he sustained while playing two weeks ago in Dubai, Safin could barely lift his racket over his head.

At times the US Open champion was forced to spin in meager 115kph second serves, some 65kph below his normal second serve speed.

And the big Russian's usually fearsome first serve never cracked the 160kph mark.

"I can play from the baseline. I can volley. The problems is that I'm scared a little bit to get injured again," Safin said.

"I still have a little pain, but it's more that. I'm scared. One or two bad movements on the serve and maybe I'll be out two weeks more."

Frustrated by his inability to move quickly, Safin frequently tossed his racket during the contest and constantly berated officials over close line calls.

Lappenti, who reached number six in the world in 1999 but fell to 24th last year, said he has the fire in his belly again after overwhelming Norman from the baseline.

"I'm really hungry and want to get back to the top," Lappenti said. "I'm running well, I have some confidence and I'm pumped up."

Reuters

sports.com

14 March 2001

After aggravating a knee injury in a loss to American upstart Mardy Fish at the Tennis Masters Series Indian Wells, Australian star Mark Philippoussis said he was doubtful for next month's Davis Cup tie against Brazil.

"My number one priority is myself and my body," said Philippoussis, who was an Aussie Davis Cup hero in the first round last year before feuding with the team and passing up the next three rounds.

"That's the only thing I'm looking at. There's some tournaments ahead. I have to look after myself and relax.

"If that means missing out on Davis Cup, that means missing out on Davis Cup," Philippoussis said.

Philippoussis, who has been battling knee problems since he took a bad spill at Wimbledon in July of 1999, said he will make his final decision after the Ericsson Open ends in Miami on April 1.

"I've got to be selfish," said Philippoussis, who won the title in Memphis three weeks ago.

"I've got to set myself a goal this year to have a great year and I know I can. I've got to be a little selfish in other aspects."

Countryman and Davis Cup stalwart Patrick Rafter said the team was tired of the conflict with Philippoussis, but he was more sympathetic this time than he has been in the past.

"The whole team has talked about it," Rafter said. "We've said, 'hands up, whatever you want to do.' We've tried bickering and fighting and it hasn't worked, from both sides.

"If Mark's available, he's available. As simple as that," Rafter said.

"He's got to be selfish. His knee comes first. If it does blow out, that's another few months off it. He can't afford to do that."

From our wire services

14 March 01

News Interactive

INDIAN WELLS, California: Mark Philippoussis believes he may have returned too soon from surgery after suffering a shock loss to American teenager Mardy Fish at the Masters Series tournament here today.

The 24-year-old Australian, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in December, lost in the first round, 6-4 6-7 (7-2) 6-4, just three weeks after winning the Memphis title in his comeback tournament.

It was a worrying result for Australian Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald ahead of Australia's quarter-final against Brazil in Florianopolis from April 6-8.

However Fitzgerald's outlook improved when Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the second round by beating Spain's Albert Costa 6-2 5-7 6-1 and Pat Rafter downed the in-form Greg Rusedski 6-3 6-2.

Fitzgerald was to discuss Philippoussis' availability for the Cup tie with him this week and the big Victorian's comments weren't particularly encouraging ahead of a clash involving gruelling best of five set matches on clay.

"I may have made my comeback a little early," said Philippoussis.

"My body just wasn't ready for it, playing five tough matches to win Memphis."

Philippoussis called today's effort "a really ugly match."

"I had no feel," he said. "I had no idea what to do when I got to the ball. It was ugly out there."

The Miami-based Aussie is looking forward to more rest and practice at his American base in Florida before next week's Masters tournament.

"I want to put this week behind me," he said. "There's another Masters. Obviously, I'd like to win every single one of them. I've got to put this behind me."

Hewitt's victory was a revenge win for a Davis Cup loss in the final last December.

"I definitely gave that match a few thoughts," said the 20-year-old from Adelaide.

"It motivated me a bit more out there."

Rafter was all over Rusedski, winning a re-run of their 1997 US Open final with a 6-3 6-2 scoreline.

Rafter didn't lose a point on serve in the second set until the final game of the match.

Rusedski was equally devastating in that regard, conceding only one point in his last five service games.

Meanwhile, last year's world No.2 Marat Safin, a back injury picked up last month in Dubai still not completely healed, became the highest-profile name to fall, going out in the first round to Swede Thomas Johansson 7-5 7-5.

The Age

15 March 2001

Mark Philippoussis believed he may have returned too soon from surgery as he suffering a shock loss to American teenager Mardy Fish at the Masters Series tournament here on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old Australian, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in December, lost in the first round, 6-4, 6-7 (7-2), 6-4, just three weeks after winning the Memphis title in his comeback tournament.

It was a worrying result for Australian Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald ahead of Australia's quarter-final against Brazil in Florianopolis on April6-8.

However, Fitzgerald's outlook improved when Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the second round by beating Spain's Albert Costa 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 and Pat Rafter downed the in-form Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-2.

Fitzgerald was to discuss Philippoussis' availability for the cup tie with him this week and the big Victorian's comments weren't particularly encouraging ahead of a clash that could involve gruelling best-of-five-set matches on clay.

"I may have made my comeback a little early," said Philippoussis. "My body just wasn't ready for it, playing five tough matches to win Memphis."

Philippoussis called Tuesday's clash "a really ugly match".

"I had no feel," he said. "I had no idea what to do when I got to the ball. It was ugly out there."

The Miami-based Australian is looking forward to more rest and practice at his American base in Florida before next week's Masters tournament.

"I want to put this week behind me," he said. "There's another Masters. Obviously, I'd like to win every single one of them. I've got to put this behind me."

Hewitt's victory was a revenge win for a Davis Cup loss to Costa in the final last December.

"I definitely gave that match a few thoughts," said the 20-year-old from Adelaide. "It motivated me a bit more out there."

Rafter was all over Rusedski, winning a rerun of their 1997 US Open final easily.

Rafter served brilliantly and controlled the net against Rusedski, who has been red-hot this season, putting away the Briton's passing-shot attempts with a minimum of fuss. Rafter didn't lose a point on serve in the second set until the final game of the match.

Rusedski, who had beaten four top-10 players this year entering the match, had no answer for the 11th-seeded Rafter, double-faulting at key moments and never establishing any kind of effective net attack.

Double US Open champion Rafter plays French qualifier Arnaud DiPasquale in the second round.

Meanwhile, last year's world No.2 Marat Safin, who has not completely recovered from a back injury picked up last month in Dubai, became the highest-profile name to fall, going out in the first round to Swede Thomas Johansson 7-5, 7-5.

Rising youngster Taylor Dent has sacked his father, former Australian Davis Cup player Phil, as his personal coach.

The move is paying off. Dent, now being coached by former American top-10 player and US Tennis Association coach Eliot Teltscher, beat respected South African Wayne Ferreira 6-3, 6-0 in the first round.

"It was my decision," said Dent. "It was time for me to go my own way for a while. I love my dad, but sometimes when he would tell me things as a coach, I would take offence personally and come down on him.

"That wasn't fair. I overreacted."

In Teltscher, Dent takes on a well-respected coach who was a cagey all-court player.

"He understands the baseline game much better than I do," Dent said. "My dad and I have a serve-and-volleyer's mentality and Eliot brings a different understanding of how to play the game."