Philippoussis comes of age
By NEIL HARMAN

7dec99


IT was all they could do to drag the boys off the court – Big Mark kissed the Cup, Lleyton kissed it, the Woodies kissed it and an inflatable kangaroo kissed it. These are the images they will treasure, of the day Australia was back to the top of the tennis world.

The glorious eras of Harry Hopman and Neale Fraser were re-created by captain John Newcombe who brought together a team for the final that had its roots steeped in unfulfilled desire.

Mark Philippoussis needed to feel he was part of the family, Lleyton Hewitt that he could confirm his prodigious talent in an unselfish environment, Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde that they would not be remembered as the finest doubles pairing never to hoist this treasured Cup.

The brio created by this fusing of such combustible elements gave Australia an edge over France that Newcombe always believed would prevail across the three days of the final.

It needed some pretty awesome tennis too, and in that, it was ironic that Philippoussis and Woodforde should be the two who emerged with so much of the credit.

Woodforde, the 34-year-old stalwart of 21 Davis Cup ties who kept Todd Woodbridge afloat through the torrid early stages of the doubles, was the most outspoken critic of Philippoussis's behaviour last year when he declared himself unavailable for a world group tie against Zimbabwe in Mildura after a personal spat with Newcombe and his coach, Tony Roche.

When Philippoussis turned up to watch the match and was spotted using his mobile phone in the players' box, it infuriated the rest of the Australian team almost as much as the 3-2 defeat that condemned them to a qualifier to have to return to the elite.

How long ago that angry day seemed from the smiles which hardly required the photographer's flashlights to embellish yesterday. Woodforde was first on court to embrace Philippoussis at match's end.

This was an Aussie team in the defining sense of the word. Tennis is an individual sport, where selfish motives prevail, where the pursuit of millions of dollars takes in the most glorious spots in the world, where most of the superstars are pampered to a level disproportionate to their ability to appreciate the surroundings in which they ply their trade.

But the Australians have always got on together, which made their breakdown in 1998 so difficult to contend with. Philippoussis said the word "team" more than any other this week. It was clearly special for him to be able to extend the fraternal hand and not have it bitten off.

"I've admitted in the past to having made mistakes," he said. "I was young, I think I've learned. You say things that are right and wrong, you do things that are right and wrong. But every negative in the past was behind me, even before this match. We came in as a team, we're going to leave as a team.

"This is the start of my tennis career, I honestly think so. I've never concentrated or played as well as I did today. In the past, the Davis Cup has started careers. This has started mine."

Philippoussis's 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-2 victory was indeed a wonderful vindication of his talent. It was said that a clay court indoors would suffuse his considerable powers, like Samson with his locks cut.

His stride would be made to look more ponderous than usual, his lateral movement, especially, would be undermined, his great serving power would suffer a reduction in force that would render the rest of his game increasingly impotent. Suppositions were just that.

I doubt if the young man has ever played as well in such a critical match with so much to lose if he came up short.

"I believe he played incredibly well," said the French No.1 Pioline, whose eyes were awash with tears as he was called to receive the acclaim of the Nice crowd.

"He tried for difficult shots on the lines, and he succeeded. This is the game. He played a big, big match today.

"It's not because there is an excellent player across the net that you feel you are losing. I believed in victory, I wanted to reverse the situation, the way the Australians did in the doubles on Saturday.

"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work. That is the basis of tennis. I have given many decisive points to the French team, but I lost today the decisive point in the final.

" I think the people appreciate what I do on the court with my game. I try to give it back to them by making them feel emotions, so they can be happy also."

And tears sometimes? he was asked. "Yes, sometimes tears," he replied.

The Aussie eyes were burning bright. A first Davis Cup in 13 years, a year before Pat Cash was going to take the world by storm and won the Wimbledon singles title.

For Cash, read Philippoussis, his charge? Even Hewitt, perhaps?

The captain saw a clear dichotomy between what happened in the mid-'80s and what could transpire in the next few years.

"This has to go down as one of the great years for Australia in Davis Cup history," Newcombe said. "What we went through all year, with injuries, every time anyone was asked to step up, they stepped up and played to their maximum. It was a fantastic effort.

"We had seven different people play for us during the year. It was Lleyton's first time and he has this to remember for the rest of his life.

"We should be poised now for the next 10 to 15 years. This will encourage 10- to 11-year-olds who are great athletes to take up the sport of tennis and want to emulate guys like Cash, Philippoussis and Hewitt.

"We should get some great people taking up the game of tennis. If we do the right thing, we should have a succession of great players representing Australia over the next 15 years."

And for that, the Davis Cup is responsible, so that it remains a beacon in the dark of so much that happens in the sport. I asked each of the Australian team what this occasion meant to them. Their answers were more than simple words, but spoken from the heart – four hearts gladdened that they experienced this day.

Hewitt, the lad who has sprung from Adelaide to encapsulate the Aussie spirit, said: "I come from a football background, and this is the only time as a tennis player that I get to come together as part of a team.

"That means a lot to me. I played team sports growing up. I loved being in the changing rooms here, getting all the boys pumped up before the matches. You have your bad days and your good days but the big thing for us this year is that we've all stepped up at different times.

"The feeling of being a part of a team in the dressing-room, that's been the biggest enjoyment I've had."

Woodforde, ever the doubles expert, had always seen his life more in terms of being one of two.

"I started playing tennis in team competition, and though it might not be the same in every country in the world, Australia has a very proud tradition of team competition," he said.

"We all saw a lot of Davis Cup victories when we were young kids, the success was high profile. It was never just you out there, you're relying on your partner to give you moral support. This is something very, very different to what we experience the rest of the year."

But perhaps it was Woodbridge, who wanted this victory so much and had played like such a drain in the opening part of the doubles success against Fabrice Santoro and Olivier Delaitre but recovered to be able to lay his hands on the silver punch bowl, who put it most eloquently.

"This event has so much history and tradition, especially in Australia," he said. "Australia was always there in the '50s, there was Hoad, Rosewell, Laver, Newcombe and Roche, all of these unbelievable champions played for us. If you didn't step up to the plate and play Davis Cup you were really being disrespectful to those great players and to what they did for the game.

"They gave us the opportunity to have what we enjoy on the tour today, the opportunity to make so much money, to play at such great events. The Davis Cup is about tradition and a respect of the people that played before you."

With champions like these, how can the sport go wrong?

Prodigal son repays his debt to sporting public
By CHIP Le GRAND

7dec99


BY anchoring Australia's Davis Cup victory on an unfamiliar playing surface and before a hostile crowd, Mark Philippoussis has repaid a debt many in Australian tennis thought he owed for refusing to contest that fateful tie against Zimbabwe in Mildura in early April 1998.

In four sets of unforgettable tennis against France's Cedric Pioline, Philippoussis earned the eternal respect of Davis Cup legends John Newcombe and Tony Roche, his Australian team-mates and the wider tennis community.

He also provided indisputable proof of a tennis talent many feared would never fully bloom in a 23-year-old already grown weary of the game.

Perhaps even more importantly, Philippoussis has rehabilitated his standing with the harshest of all sporting critics: the public.

"The Australian public will never forgive someone for not playing a Davis Cup match," said Paul McNamee, chief executive of the Australian Open and a member of 1986 Davis Cup winning team.

"That is just a no no in the Australian psyche and Mark learned that lesson.

"He admits he made a mistake – he had his reasons and he will always stand by his reasons – but the Australian public don't think there are any reasons.

"He made a big call and boy did he get burned for it. He got absolutely fried. He had to earn the respect back and he did that over the weekend."

Philippoussis has never been the fashionable pick out of Australia's burgeoning stable of tennis talent.

Whereas it's easy for arm-chair critics to relate to Pat Rafter's competitive approach to life on court and easy-going approach to life off it, Philippoussis is extremely wary of the media and has a close relationship with his Greek-born father that many Anglo-Saxons find difficult to appreciate.

His potential has been clear to everyone in tennis since he was a teenager, but even his nickname, Scud, suggests an unreliability to match any ballistic capabilities.

He has more natural talent than Rafter or Pat Cash but until this weekend, he hadn't really won anything of note. As McNamee pointed out, the only major achievement Philippoussis could hang his hat on before his Davis Cup triumph was this year's Hopman Cup win with Jelena Dokic.

"Every time he bought a new Ferrari or whatever people would say what has he ever done to be buying toys like that?" McNamee said.

McNamee was a loyal supporter of Philippoussis during his feud with the Davis Cup fraternity. He said far from being aloof or arrogant, Philippoussis was very humble and very much misunderstood.

"The thing which is difficult to fathom is what a nice fella Mark is," McNamee said.

"He never flaunts his own ability, he is never cocky, he never denigrates another player, he is an extremely humble guy. The guys who grew up with him: his school mates, his school teachers, the people who played with him as juniors, they won't say a bad word about Mark."

In the afterglow of Nice, neither would anyone else.

Davis Cup captain Newcombe predicted Philippoussis' Davis Cup heroics would be the turning point in his professional career.

"I would imagine that Mark will look back on this in the future, in 10 years' time, and say 'that's where my career turned the corner and I started winning Grand Slam tournaments'," Newcombe said after the victory.

"This match will certainly create an opportunity for him to win tournaments and it is going to shine good for Australia. He has now got himself in a position where he can make it and it is great for Australia," concurred Rod Laver, Australia's greatest male tennis player.

McNamee said few people knew how deeply hurt Philippoussis was by the feud with Newcombe and Roche.

Philippoussis pulled out of the Davis Cup team because he felt Newcombe and Roche had given him poor support when his father Nick was battling cancer. The dispute escalated at the 1998 US Open when Roche sat in Rafter's box during the final as Rafter beat Philippoussis in four sets.

Following Mildura, Philippoussis talked publicly about early retirement and not having any friends on the tour.

Then just as he was approaching outstanding form under Cash's guidance, his left knee gave-out during a Wimbledon quarter-final match against Pete Sampras.

It was cruel timing for Philippoussis as Sampras conceded later he was playing well enough to win the title.

McNamee said all talk from Philippoussis about retirement would stop now. It might even be that having drunk from tennis' famous silver punch bowl, Philippoussis may become more relaxed around the press and wider public.

"The past is buried and he starts fresh and in a very good situation," McNamee said.

"If it is a failing – and it is not a crime – he is not very articulate and that is always a factor in how the public perceives you. But I think his qualities and his virtues are there to see.

"Once people do actually get to know him better, they will find him much more likeable than they imagined."

Scud on target with new direction
By NEIL HARMAN

7dec99


NICE: Mark Philippoussis was tipped for a magnificent tennis future last night by the man who endured the same hostilities in Australia before the Davis Cup turned his life around.

Philippoussis starts a snowboarding holiday this week as the new hero of the sport that his given his life a sense of direction – uphill rather than down.

Pat Cash knew what it was like to be the pushy new kid on the block, to speak his mind, scoff at officialdom, suffer the consequences and then become the talk of the nation.

Australia's 3-2 victory in the 1999 Davis Cup final, their first in 13 years, and their first ever on indoor clay, was secured on Sunday afternoon in Nice when the 23-year-old Philippoussis, in his final debut, defeated the French No.1 Cedric Pioline in four mesmerising sets of tennis. He described it as the start of his career.

Cash, who has been in the Philippoussis coaching corner for less then two years, can relate to Philippoussis's impulses. In 1983, as a muscular, opinionated young buck, Cash led Australia to victory over Sweden on grass in Melbourne, a feat he helped repeat in '86 against the same nation. Within eight months, he had become the new Wimbledon champion.

Cash was fulfilling an engagement at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday and didn't see a single ball live of the Philippoussis success which was the talk of all Australia yesterday.

"I'm just so thrilled for Mark because I know how hard he's worked for this," Cash said last night. "There's no doubt that being in the Davis Cup helps you mature as a person and certainly as a player. I improved ten-fold after I played Davis Cup, Patrick Rafter the same, and the first thing I said to Mark when I took him under my wing is that I wanted him to play Davis Cup.

"His relationship with Newk has always been a touchy subject and when it came up I used to say to him 'you know what I feel about Davis Cup, it's up to you'.

"The last thing I wanted to do was stir things up, although I know I caused a hiccup last summer when a couple of words on TV slipped out the wrong way. It had been calm sailing until then and I kicked myself for that. I should have known better.

"The most important thing is that Mark has done this for himself. I know he's a bit of a big kid at times, but he's loved in Australia by the public, if not the media. I relate to that situation, it's amazing how our careers have gone hand in hand. I'd love to see him go even further than I did and he's definitely got the talent. People turned in my favour after they saw what I achieved in Davis Cup and the same can be true for Mark. He knows how fickle this all is.

"He is the most exciting player out there when he's hot. I think everybody in the world is realising there's more to his game than simply power. This is a guy who can save the game from the robots. I'm thrilled to bits for him. I told him if he kept knocking on the door, things would happen and this is his reward for that. It had to happen if he kept putting the effort in."

Philippoussis is unlikely to return to Australia until just before Christmas, when a tickertape tribute to the Davis Cup-winning squad is being planned for his home city of Melbourne.

"In any athlete's life, the most important thing is to represent your country," he said. "I think we all felt something here this week, that something special was going to happen. We trained hard for it and we deserved it.

"Our names are on the trophy, and no-one can ever rub them off. They're there, for history. Australia won it. It's an incredible feeling, the best match I've ever played, but also the best feeling I've ever had in my life."

Australian captain John Newcombe is already looking forward to the 2000 competition where, after a World Group first-round tie against a Swiss team likely to be vastly understrength in February, they have the prospect of three home ties, culminating in a potential final against John McEnroe's USA a year from now.

Indeed, this is likely to be the last year for Newcombe and Tony Roche as employees of Tennis Australia in a Davis Cup capacity.

"This is something I've got to sit alone and think about,' Newcombe said. "This achievement is something that Tony and I set out to do six years ago. We've got such a close friendship and we've stuck together to try to do this."

Game, set and celebration: Australia's cup runneth over
By CHIP Le GRAND and RUPERT GUINNESS

7dec99


AUSTRALIA'S last great sporting triumph of the millennium was a tale of the transformation from brat to saviour of one of the country's most gifted tennis players that ended with old enmities finally dissolving in wine and ale in Nice early yesterday morning.

When Mark Philippoussis returns to Melbourne, he will be driven through centre of the city and showered in ticker-tape. Fittingly the next time he steps on a tennis court it will be again to represent Australia, this time in Perth with Serbian-born Jelena Dokic to defend their Hopman Cup title.

By piloting Australia's Davis Cup win, Philippoussis has completed a extraordinary personal transformation from maligned sporting outcast to respected – and in time perhaps even revered – servant of Australian tennis.

Basking in Australia's win and the newly won camaraderie of his Davis Cup team-mates after his his four-set demolition of France's Cedric Pioline in Nice, Philippoussis said he felt like a tennis player reborn.

"This is the start of my career," he declared as those who 18 months ago questioned his commitment to the Davis Cup cause chaired him from the clay court of the Palais des Expositions.

And the transformation was evident at the celebrations at Nice's Chez Wayne and a nearby nightclub.

Philippoussis was an integral member of the team in the celebration of ale and high spirits with stalwarts Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, Lleyton Hewitt, who took Australia to Nice in the first place, and the once subjects of his ire, Davis Cup captain John Newcombe and coach Tony Roche.

While there was nothing staged in the player's celebrations early yesterday, Australia's answer to England's Barmy Army, The Fanatics, reflected an element of the careful planning and design that saw Newcombe and Roche mastermind the return of the Davis Cup after 13 years.

The 250 yellow-shirted fans who took on the might of 10,000 French and screamed Australia to victory had been recruited from backpapers hostel by Sydney economics student Simon Livingstone, whose expenses are paid for that very purpose by Tennis Australia.

Livingstone has travelled the world recruiting Australians to support each stage of the campaign and in Nice his disciples cheered, bowed in worship and sang songs to the team. Among them, renditions of "John Newcombe – superstar".

But yesterday the new, more humble Messiah was Philippoussis, his sentiment of a career reborn echoed by Davis Cup luminaries.

Newcombe predicted a Philippoussis assault on the clay courts of the French Open.

Rod Laver tipped Philippoussis to turn his Davis Cup role into success on the professional tour.

Australian Open chief executive Paul McNamee, who like Hewitt in Nice cheered singles team-mate Pat Cash to Davis Cup victory in 1986, said Philippoussis decisive role in this year's triumph marked the coming of age of a media-shy and often misunderstood 23-year-old.

And Nick Philippoussis, whose battle with cancer prompted his son's withdrawal from the Davis Cup team to play Zimbabwe in May 1998 and the resultant feud, said the win had put all bitterness and recriminations to rest.

"Now it is water under the bridge," he said.

"He plays for his country, he plays for his team-mates and for every Australian."

 Philippoussis: 'I'll take this over Wimbledon'

Copyright © 1999 Nando Media
Copyright © 1999 Agence France-Press


By WINSOR DOBBIN

NICE, France (December 5, 1999 7:24 p.m. EST http://www.sportserver.com) - Mark Philippoussis thought 1999 was destined to be a year of disappointment. Instead, it wrapped up Sunday with the biggest triumph of his career.

Philippoussis led Australia to a 3-2 win over France in the Davis Cup final on Sunday, salvaging a season that went horribly wrong at Wimbledon.

Philippoussis led six-time champion Pete Sampras by a set and was playing like a dream when a knee injury forced him to pull out of their Wimbledon quarterfinal.

Injury also kept him out of the U.S. Open and Australia's Davis Cup quarterfinal and semifinal wins over the United States and Russia.

When Philippoussis was called upon to lead from the front in the final - in the absence of injured Australian No. 1 Pat Rafter - the 23-year-old was magnificent.

Philippoussis downed Cedric Pioline 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 to seal Australia's first Davis Cup triumph in 13 years before Sebastien Grosjean salvaged some Gallic pride by beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 6-3 in a lighthearted dead rubber.

Philippoussis' win in the first of the reverse singles sparked wild scenes of celebration among his teammates.

"I got injured at Wimbledon. Who knows if I would have won it?" Philippoussis asked.

"Yet here I am. I won the match for the Davis Cup team. I'd take this one over Wimbledon any time."

Australia's first win since 1986 saw them lift the trophy for the 27th time - a record bettered only by the United States, who have won 31 times.

Philippoussis, who last year refused to play in the competition after disagreements with captain John Newcombe, was transformed from villain to hero after his second singles win of the tie on a clay court that was expected to favor the French.

"This is the biggest moment of my life," Philippoussis said. "I've never concentrated or played as well as I did today. I've made mistakes in the past, sure, but I've learned from them.

"Everything in the past has been behind me - even before this. We came in as a team. We are going to leave as a team."

He was ice-cool under immense pressure as he overpowered Pioline in two hours and 42 minutes, slamming down 15 aces and hitting 54 outright winners to his opponents' 32.

"It is the best match Mark has played with his head in his life," Newcombe said.

"He didn't have any highs or lows in the match - just highs."

Philippoussis's teammates stormed onto court at the end of the match, hoisting him onto their shoulders. They then lifted Newcombe and coach Tony Roche into the air as the 1,000 Australian fans in the stadium went wild.

Pioline, in contrast, burst into tears at courtside before regaining his composure.

"Mark played very, very good match today. He was very consistent," he said. "Maybe he was lucky with the net and the lines sometimes, but he deserved to win. He played a big, big match."

The win gave Australia another team world championship to add to its growing collection. They were already world champions at cricket, rugby union, rugby league, netball and women's field hockey. Australia beat France in the World Cup rugby union final in Cardiff last month.

Newcombe had said before the final that it was Australia's "destiny" to win the Cup. He now predicts that Philippoussis is a good enough player on clay to win the French Open in the future.

"I can honestly say I heard no noise today - nothing," said Philippoussis of his phenomenal concentration.

The Australians went into the final day with a 2-1 lead after Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge beat Fabrice Santoro and Olivier Delaitre 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in Saturday's doubles.

Every team that has won the trophy over the past 21 years has won the doubles in the final - and this year proved no exception.

On Friday, Philippoussis beat Grosjean 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 before Pioline pulled France level by downing Hewitt 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (8-6), 7-5.

Philippoussis, who improved his Cup singles record to 8-4, romped through the first set in just 37 minutes, breaking Pioline's fragile serve in the first and ninth games.

Known as "Scud" because of his power, Philippoussis was extremely focused and was content to wait for 13th-ranked Pioline to make errors.

After not conceding more than two points in any service game in the first set, 19th-ranked Philippoussis was broken in the opening game of the second set.

He swiftly got back to 2-2 and had a set point in the 10th game before two-time Grand Slam finalist Pioline began to grow in confidence, reeling off three straight games to take the set 7-5 and level the match at one-set all.

Rather than building on his success, Pioline was rocked in the third set as former U.S. Open finalist Philippoussis hit the ball more cleanly and deeply to race to a 5-0 lead. He took the set 6-1 to stun the vociferous sellout 10,000 crowd at the Acropolis Exhibition Centre.

When Philippoussis broke Pioline's serve to 15 in the third game of the fourth set, the writing was on the wall for the French No. 1. A further break in the seventh game sealed matters.

"I felt joy, complete joy," said Philippoussis of his feelings after the final point.

"I felt like doing cartwheels. Doing a backflip. This is the start of my tennis career. In the past, Davis Cup matches have started careers. This is the start of mine."

It was the first trophy win as Australian captain for Newcombe, who took over in 1994 after helping lift the Davis Cup four times as a player.

Australia won the Cup in Europe for the first time in the 100th year of the competition after being beaten in Germany in 1993.

The Australians had been robbed of Rafter, Philippoussis and Woodbridge through injury at various stages of their campaign this year, but players such as Hewitt and unheralded duo Wayne Arthurs and Sandon Stolle stepped into the breach. They won after playing on four surfaces on four continents during the year.

"This has got to go down as one of the great years in Australian Davis Cup history," said Newcombe. "Every time someone was asked to step up, they stepped up."





DAVIS CUP: Australia looking forward to next clash with U.S.

Copyright © 1999 Nando Media
Copyright © 1999 Reuters News Service

By Rex Gowar

NICE, France (December 6, 1999 1:52 p.m. EST http://www.sportserver.com) - After Australia's first title of the 1990s, John Newcombe's team is already looking forward to playing the only team with a better Davis Cup record - the United States - in the first final of the new millennium.

A 3-2 victory against the French at the weekend landed the Australians their 27th title despite Mark Philippoussis, their singles hero in Nice, and No. 1 Pat Rafter missing two of the four rounds.

But with John McEnroe taking over as captain of the American team, and Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi rejoining the fold, the United States will definitely be favorites next year even if Rafter is fit enough to play alongside Philippoussis.

"For the last two weeks I've already been thinking about our defence of the trophy next year," said Newcombe.

"In the first round we play Switzerland in Switzerland. If we win we should play the other three matches at home with a possible final against the United States.

"Perhaps Sampras and Agassi in Melbourne next December - that's something we really want to experience."

Team captain Newcombe played in a winning Australian team four times including a 5-0 rout of the United States in Cleveland in 1973, but the Americans still have a better Davis Cup record with 31 victories.

Newcombe and coach Tony Roche have breathed new life into the Australian team and handled Philippoussis well after his acrimonious split with the team in 1998 which saw him ostracised by fellow Australians.

He played superbly in the final to beat Sebastien Grosjean and then Cedric Pioline, the highest ranked player here, in the decisive singles on a clay surface that was picked to exploit perceived weaknesses in the giant Australian's game.

Teenager Lleyton Hewitt was the decisive factor in the semifinal win over Russia but was taught a lesson by Pioline in how to play a five-set match in his opening singles. But he remains Australia's great hope for the future.

France failed in their attempt to win a third title as underdogs in the 1990s. Their future is uncertain, as it was after their remarkable win over the United States in Lyon in 1991 and their upset victory against Sweden in Malmo in 1996.

They had to fight off relegation immediately after both triumphs and work their way back to the top, but it is to their immense credit that they did so without elite players.

"We're not world champions, French players don't win tournaments every fortnight, and we don't have the world number two, three, four or five to make up our team," captain Guy Forget said.

Pioline, world No. 13, said he often felt all but alone in this season's Davis Cup battles. His importance to the team was demonstrated by the Philippoussis defeat being his first in a live rubber this year.

"It would be great if one or two players progressed and were stable at this level so I had someone really solid to lean on, to make it easier," Pioline said after his defeat.

Forget said: "We all progressed together and we can still improve." But he knows the next step could hardly be tougher with a first round match away in Brazil on clay.

Born-again hero buries his demons
By LEO SCHLINK in Nice
7dec99

HOMETOWN star Mark Philippoussis is a hero reborn after steering Australia to a historic Davis Cup victory.

The Scud believes the win is the start of what will be the best years of his career and buries his personal demons.

Minutes after handing Australia its 27th Davis Cup trophy, Philippoussis set his sights on the Australian Open and his first Grand Slam singles title.

"In the past, Davis Cup matches have started careers and this is the start for me," he said.

"This is definitely the biggest win in my career.

"This is as good a feeling as I've had in tennis.

"I got injured at Wimbledon this year. Who knows if I would have gone on to win it? Things happen for a reason and I would take this one for Wimbledon any time."

Of the past and his alienation from the Australian team, Philippoussis said the troubles were over.

"I've been wrong," he said.

"I've learned from my mistakes. I've said things that were wrong or right. I've done things that were wrong or right.

"But I was young then. I'm still young now.

"Everything in the past has been behind me, even before this.

"We came in as a team, we're going to leave as a team."

The Scud's relations with the Davis Cup team hit rock bottom last year after his falling-out with captain John Newcombe and coach Tony Roche, when Philippoussis said the pair should have given him more support when his father was diagnosed with cancer.

Philippoussis angered team-mates by declaring himself unavailable for last year's first-round tie with Zimbabwe in Mildura, then turning up to watch what turned out to be a debacle for the Aussies.

His father, Nick, said the 23-year-old Williamstown star's problems were buried. "It's water under the bridge," said Greek-born Mr Philippoussis after his son wrapped up the final against France by beating Cedric Pioline in four sets.

It followed his straight-sets win over Sebastien Grosjean on day one.

"He plays for his country, he plays for his team-mates and for every Australian," Mr Philippoussis said.

Newcombe echoed the sentiments, already planning future Davis Cup trophies, with Scud and former world No.1 Pat Rafter becoming role models for new champions.

"We should be poised for the next 10-15 years," Newcombe said.

"This will encourage 10 and 11-year-olds who are great athletes to take up the game of tennis so that they can emulate players like Mark and Pat.

"If we do the right thing, we will have a succession of great players for Australia in the next 10-15 years."

Newcombe predicted US Open finalist Philippoussis was finally on the cusp of fulfilling his rich promise.

"Mark will look back on this in the future, in 10 years' time, and say 'that's where my career actually turned the corner and I started winning Grand Slam tournaments'," he said.

"There's a time. It could be the same with Mark. Like Pat's career turned in Davis Cup against France also. Eight months later (in 1997), he had won a Grand Slam tournament.

"I just think going through something like this, it just puts something inside you, that little bit extra.

"What Mark learned about himself today (was) that he has the ability to play in a match under that pressure to maintain not just the level of play, but the level of concentration and focus for a three-hour period," Newcombe said.

And those who watched Philippoussis grow from a boy into a champion in Williamstown agreed. Williamstown Tennis Club coach Margaret Harris-Barry, said the Scud had redeemed himself.

"He's proved himself to be able to stand up to the pressures of big-time tennis," she said.

Philippoussis, who has donated tennis gear to the club for three years, was made an honorary member last year.

Philippoussis flew out of Nice after the Cup win for a snowboarding holiday in St Anton on the Austrian Alps, where he will also play a series of exhibition matches before returning to Florida.

"Once I've had that holiday, I'm going straight off to Miami to train and be ready for the Australian Open," he said.

"Now I've had this, I want to do well at the majors."

Melbourne street parade
From AAP

6dec99


NICE, France: Australia's Davis Cup heroes will be feted with a ticker tape parade through the streets of Melbourne later this month, with others expected to follow in other cities.

"There's a parade planned in Melbourne on either December 22 or 23," said Tennis Australia spokeswoman Lysette Shaw.

"It's up to other cities to invite us to have parades there, but we're expecting some others."

Lleyton Hewitt is known to be particularly keen for a parade through his home town Adelaide, also the birthplace of doubles star Mark Woodforde.

Todd Woodbridge's hometown Sydney is also expected to offer a parade, while Tennis Australia officials are also anticipating an invitation from Brisbane – home of the currently injured Pat Rafter – which hosted the semi-final against Russia.

Since Philippoussis and Woodbridge live in Florida in the US, parades must be timed for when all team members are in Australia, hence the idea to wait until just before Christmas.







Scud's 'greatest win'
From Leo Schlink

6dec99


NICE: Mark Philippoussis today described his magnificent effort to lift Australia to victory in the Davis Cup final over France as the best win of his career.

"This is the start of the rest of my career," he said.

"In the past, Davis Cup matches have started careers and this is the start for me.

"This is definitely the biggest win in my career.

"This is as good a feeling as I've had in tennis.

"I got injured at Wimbledon this year. Who knows if I would have gone on to win it? Things happen for a reason and I would take this one for Wimbledon any time."

Despite 10,000 French fans cheering and blowing horns, Philippoussis shut out the distractions.

"I can honestly say I heard no noise," he said. "The horns sounded faint to me. The only thing I heard was the ball, the line calls, the heart beating – that's it.

"I concentrated so well today. I knew I had to concentrate so well and block everything out."

Vilified for his decision not to play for Australia last season because of a dispute with team coach Tony Roche and captain John Newcombe, Philippoussis delivered Australia's 27th title in 81 years with a fabulous 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 win over Cedric Pioline.

Sebastien Grosjean posted a consolation win over Lleyton Hewitt in the dead fifth rubber to slice the margin to 3-2.

Swamped by elated teammates at the end of the match, Philippoussis ensured Australia remained atop the international sporting community by adding tennis to the list of world champion credits.

Following in the footsteps of the cricketers, netballers, rugby and hockey players, the Australian Davis Cup team carved out a unique slice of history by winning its first Cup on European clay in a Davis Cup final.

Philippoussis produced two of Australia's wins with singles success against Pioline and Grosjean to emerge as the unlikely hero in the absence of injured No. 1 Pat Rafter.

Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde won a crucial doubles rubber before Australia again turned to Philippoussis for inspiration.

And, amid the pressure of filling Rafter's shoes, Philippoussis shouldered his responsibilities with maturity to give Australia one of its greatest Cup moments.

Captain John Newcombe believes Australia is on the threshhold of a golden new era of international tennis dominance, following the win.

Beaming with pride amid euphoric celebrations, Newcombe forecast a new wave of Australian tennis greats.

"We should be poised for the next 10 to 15 years," Newcombe said.

"This will encourage 10- and 11-year-olds who are great athletes to take up the game of tennis so that they can emulate players like Mark (Philippoussis) and Pat (Rafter).

"If we do the right thing, we will have a succession of great players for Australia in the next 10 to 15 years."

By guiding Australia to its first success in a final on European clay, Newcombe becomes only the fourth Australian to captain a championship- winning team.

"This is a fantastic win for us," Newcombe said.

"I think this is one of the great performances in the history of Australian Davis Cup."

Australia has now won 27 Davis Cup titles – a figure bettered only by the US, which has 31 victories.

Philippoussis could not have made a more perfect start – albeit with a touch of luck – as Pioline suffered obvious nerves in the opening game.

Two mis--- Philippoussis backhands and an errant Pioline forehand had the Frenchman wallowing at 15-40 before recovering to deuce, only to drop serve on a double fault gambling on a serve down the middle.

Philippoussis calmly consolidated the break and, such was his composure on serve during the first set, he was not called to defend a break point.

His confidence soared further when Pioline again lost his way in the ninth game after Philippoussis unwound a pair of searing backhand winners and then pressured Pioline to hit a backhand wide.

Down two set points at 15-40, Pioline contrived to sent frazzled French supporters into collective depression when he produced another double fault to lose the set after 38 minutes.

Sporting year ends on high
By BRUCE WILSON in Nice

6dec99


AUSTRALIA can – and almost certainly will – enter into a welter of self-congratulation today after the Davis Cup tennis team clinched a sporting year that will go down as the best the nation has enjoyed.

The delirious dancing and triumphal laps of honour run by John Newcombe's tennis boys was mimicked high above in the stands at the stadium in Nice by the Australian supporters, a dance destined to go long into the Mediterranean night.

One of their number waved a huge banner that had been in the stadium since the first ball was hit on Friday.

It said: CRICKET RUGBY TENNIS.

The first two had large, red ticks next to them on Friday.

Five minutes after Mark Philippoussis had clinched the Davis Cup tie by beating France's Cedric Pioline early today, the same red tick was next to Tennis.

Add to it the fact that Australia holds the other rugby world cup – league – as well as winning the netball, the women's hockey world titles and the Ashes and 1999 must be seen as the annus mirabilis of the 20th century, especially since more than 50 various world records can be taken into account.

In the Davis Cup, though, there is a symbol of a different and older Australia, of a tournament in which for the first time Australia established itself in a sport played throughout the world.

The Davis Cup for decades was Australian sport. Then, in many ways, it became the symbol of slump as other nations caught up with and then overtook the legends of the golden era that started between the two World Wars and grew after World War II to such an extent that Australians were mildly surprised when our team did not win the great, shiny, absurd, silver bowl.

So used to winning, Australians found the days of defeat difficult. Between 1973 and 1998, Australia won the Davis Cup only four times.

Until early today, when Pioline hit a limp forehand into the net just before 2.30am Sydney time, Australia had not won since 1986, and not abroad since 1973.

Little wonder John Newcombe and his men went into paroxysms of joy as they lifted Philippoussis above their shoulders and carried him around as if he were indeed a warrior from ancient Greece. Philippoussis himself said later the win marked the start of his tennis career.

That strongly indicates the rebirth of a man who many believed would never be selected to play again for Australia so long as Newcombe was in charge. Now that same man says his win here was more important than winning Wimbledon.

He has walked a long way down a new road, has Mark Philippoussis, if that is true.

Scud's fairytale
From AAP

6dec99


NICE, France: Australia romped to Davis Cup glory here overnight when Mark Philippoussis produced what he called the best match of his life to defeat France's Cedric Pioline.

Philippoussis repeated the instensity and focus he had shown in his opening straight sets win over Sebastien Grosjean in beating Pioline 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-2 in 2 hours 42 minutes, giving Australia an unbeatable 3-1 lead over the French on their own clay court in Nice.

Later, Grosjean beat Lleyton Hewitt 6-4 6-3 in the dead second reverse singles rubber to finalise the score at 3-2 for Australia.

The win gave Australia its 27th Davis Cup and first for 13 years, and also emphatically buried the controversies that have dogged Philippoussis' Davis Cup history.

"This is definitely the best win of my career," the 23-year-old said, citing his level of intensity in such pressurised circumstances.

"I concentrated so well today. I knew I had to concentrate so well and block everything out."

Despite 10,000 French fans cheering and blowing horns against him, Philippoussis shut the distractions out, producing a superb mix of power, poise and impressive court coverage.

"I can honesty say I heard no noise," he said. "The horns sounded faint to me. The only thing I heard was the ball, the line calls, the heart beating – that's it."

Philippoussis showed great composure to come back and crush Pioline in the last two sets, having squandered a set point at 5-4 up in the second set, and then being broken in the following game.

His Davis Cup career reached a low point last year when he fell out with captain John Newcombe and coach Tony Roche. He then angered his team-mates by turning up to watch, despite declaring himself unavailable, for the first round tie against Zimbabwe in Mildura, which ended disastrously for Australia.

But today all that was behind him.

Philippoussis was held by Newcombe in a lengthy embrace after winning the match, and was then held aloft by his jubilant team-mates as around 1,000 Australians in the crowd sang "There's only one Philippoussis."

"It was an unbelievable effort," Newcombe said.

"That was the best match of mental tennis that Mark's ever played in his life.

"There were no lows and highs in Mark's game. Cedric had a real high at the end of the second set and Mark just kept the high up there the whole time and Cedric just couldn't go with him."

Philippoussis' victory also capped a phenomenal year for Australian sport, following world titles in cricket, rugby, netball and women's hockey, to go with the country's rugby league world cup title.

While Philippoussis was lifted onto the shoulders of his team-mates, Pioline burst into tears at courtside before regaining his composure.

"It is a very sad moment for the French team," said their captain Guy Forget.

Philippoussis, ranked six places behind 13th-ranked Pioline after missing almost four months recently due to knee surgery, started today's match as favourite.

Fanatics play their part
From AAP

6dec99


NICE: It started with a chance meeting in a New York bar after Pat Rafter's 1997 US Open victory and has grown to the point where Australia's Davis Cup team wouldn't take the court without them.

They're known as the Fanatics, and the band of semi-organised supporters who have followed Australia's Davis Cup team this year have, according to captain John Newcombe, played a significant part in his side's success.

As a player, Newcombe was well aware of the value of travelling fans, and when he and coach Tony Roche bumped into Sydney economics student and sports nut Warren Livingstone in New York, they liked what he said.

"After Pat Rafter's win I put the idea to Newk and Rochey that we should form a travelling cheer squad," Livingstone said.

"It's basically gone from there. Newk and Rochey have been the driving force behind it all."

In what sounds like a dream job for any sports fan, Livingstone, 26, has been embraced by Tennis Australia, which pays his airfares and hotel costs as he follows the team and recruits fans through advertisements in backpackers' hostels.

At the Davis Cup final in Nice, some 250 Fanatics – recognisable by their yellow T-shirts – cheered,bowed in worship and sang songs to the Australian team.

Their renditions of Advance Australia Fair were memorable, as was "John Newcombe – superstar", adapted from the one about the original Messiah.

Others were modelled on English soccer songs, he said.

"Hopefully we're setting a bit of a precedent for Australian sport."

The contribution of the Fanatics received high praise from the Australian team.

Philippoussis party dance upsets wolves
By RUPERT GUINNESS

8dec99


THE euphoria over Australia's Davis Cup victory threatens to take a backflip after revelations of team hero Mark Philippoussis' antics with a topless girl at a celebration party in Nice.

Many Australians woke yesterday to see photos of a shirtless Philippoussis next to a blond woman wearing only white panties and stockings.

The image complimented a series of shots depicting the joyous Australian team's all-night party to celebrate their victory in the Cup final over France on the weekend.

However, while the photos showed them drinking with fans in yellow "Tour de Fanatic" supporter t-shirts, only the Scud was photographed with the topless woman.

And although the photo showed him standing next to her and looking down to the crowd with a smile, footage aired on Channel Nine News last night showed him enthusiastically dancing with her in front of a packed crowd at The Forum nightclub in Nice.

The Australians' fiesta continued till dawn before they left Nice for various destinations around the world.

Joining team captain John Newcombe for the flight to Australia, where a ticker tape parade is planned for the team in Melbourne on December 22 or 23, was young-gun Lleyton Hewitt and coach Tony Roche, while the others began holidays or returned to their homes in the United States.

Nevertheless, while the victorious Australians' eyes may have been blurred yesterday, it was clear their highly publicised party pulled as many headlines as it did crowds.

Newcombe, weary but still smiling, didn't pretend otherwise before leaving Nice for his flight which should see him arrive back home today.

"It was a long one," he said of the party while carrying his bags. "In the hotel, we were still up when people were coming down for breakfast."

Meanwhile, readers of the Sydney paper that ran the shot of the Scud cavorting with his gyrating fan had jammed switchboards at radio stations around the country and at the newspaper concerned with comments and complaints about Philippoussis' display and the way it was depicted.

His actions and their capture on film ignited heated debate over issues, including:

* the place of sports stars as role models in society;

* their accountability for public actions when supported by tax payer-sourced funds;

* the rights of profile athletes to celebrate as they wish;

* the responsibility of team management to control their members in public;

* should elite teams confine parties to private functions;

* the rights of photographers and media to print or air revealing out-of-competition imagery of stars;

* if shooting such images invades privacy or not; and,

* the motives behind media publishing or airing them.

Yesterday, sports officials stepped back from condemming Philippoussis for dancing with the topless woman.

However, many agreed that the attention put on his actions exposed the increasing vulnerability to public judgement of elite athletes.

And in the build-up to next year's Olympics, however, the verdict falls on the Scud for his celebrations, the issue stands as a warning for Olympians.

Tennis Australia was unable to comment on the issue, as all its officials were in flight and en-route to Australia.

But Australian Sports Commission and Australian Institute of Sport director John Boultbee said that athletes are always under the microscope of the public eye, fairly or not.

"We always tell our athletes that, unfortunately, the fact they are talented athletes makes them targeted for public exposure and that they should be careful," he said.

"It's an obligation of being an elite athlete."

Three of the Australian team members are former AIS scholarship holders – Todd Woodbridge until 10 years ago, Philippoussis until six, and Hewitt until two years ago.

However, while none are currently funded by ASC money, Boultbee denied that the aftermath of public reaction to Philippoussis' antics on tennis's image would endanger the sport's ASC funding which was $1.077 million last year.

Rowing Australia chief executive Darren Peters said he'd take action if an elite rower were photographed dancing with a topless woman at a post-regatta party and the image made public.

"We would be disappointed that he behaved in a way that may denegrate his image," said Peters. "I fully understand the need to relax and party after a big success.

"It was a wonderful result for Mark and under the presure he's been under he was obviously ready to let his hair down."

In a remarkable year for Australia sport, John Newcombe and Tony Roche's boys have put the icing on the cake. In this the Centennial Year of the Davis Cup, Australia has won the greatest annual team championship for the 27th time. It has been 13 years since Australia has laid claim to this wonderful trophy that has made sports fans go weak at the knees.

The metamorphosis of Mark Philippoussis was truly complete when he secured the trophy by beating Cedric Pioline 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in the first of the reverse singles by giving Australia an unassailable 3-1 lead. Then, in the last match, the dead rubber, Sebastien Grosjean salvaged some French pride by stopping Lleyton Hewitt, 6-4, 6-3 to leave the final score at 3-2 Australia.