Philippoussis' game takes off after returning from injury

On a smaller scale, the timing cost him an opportunity against none other than Pete Sampras. In their quarterfinal, Philippoussis had won the first set before tearing cartilage in his left knee during the second set.

On a broader scale, the injury only offered more ammunition to the impression Philippoussis has been a career loafer.

It is entirely unfair to hold a player accountable for injuries, unless he won't commit to the fitness required to avoid routine ones. But Philippoussis suffered because the injury deprived him of valuable time to prove he can remain among the top players on the ATP Tour.

He took full advantage of that opportunity last weekend in the Davis Cup final.

Philippoussis led Australia to a 3-1 victory over France with singles victories over Sebastian Grosjean and, in Sunday's clincher, Cedric Pioline.

This round in Nice, France, was played on clay, so Philippoussis dispelled an impression that he can't play on that surface.

He's far more concerned with showing people -- himself included -- that he is ready to become a consistent force in big matches.

The expectations always have been so large because he is so large.

The 6-foot-4, 202-pound Philippoussis has one of the hardest serves in tennis. His ground strokes are tremendously powerful. There is enough wing span to cut down angles at the net.

Too often, though, his results have been inconsistent. Concentration occasionally waned.

It did not Sunday in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Pioline.

In a tennis-rabid country such as Australia, winning the Davis Cup is not small news. Philippoussis had to play in front of a hostile, pro-French crowd in the most important match of his career since countryman Patrick Rafter easily beat him in the 1998 U.S. Open final.

The clarity he brought to the task should stand as the most encouraging sign Philippoussis might have turned a corner.

"I really believe that this is the start of my career because I have never concentrated as well as I did today," Philippoussis said after the match. "I can honestly say that I heard no noise from the crowd -- just the ball hitting the line, the line calls and my heart beating."

Perhaps the summer and fall layoff helped Philippoussis develop a sense of purpose. The knee injury gave him probably more time than he wanted to gain perspective away from the court.

He was idle for seven weeks after retiring from the Sampras match at Wimbledon. Then he lost in the first round of his next event, the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, to the unspectacular Arnaud Di Pasquale.

A longer down time followed, three months of tournament inactivity, before he played the Heineken Singapore Open on Oct. 12.

If the time off did not make Philippoussis especially tuned in to his unique gifts, winning the Davis Cup did.

It is easy to forget that Philippoussis only recently turned 23 -- on Nov. 7. Four years ago, he finished with a year-end ranking of No. 32. Plenty of time remains for Philippoussis to become a Top 10 force.

He finishes this year at No. 19, after cracking the Top 10 for the first time with a career-high No. 8 ranking in April.

At that time, Philippoussis was riding a wave. He had just won a five-set thriller over Carlos Moya in the finals at Indian Wells, a prestigious Mercedes Super 9 event.

Then, all the knee injury from Wimbledon did was deprive him of further opportunity to show he is for real.

Australian coach John Newcombe called the clinching Davis Cup victory "the best match Mark has played with his head in his life. He didn't have highs and lows, just highs."

The sensation of winning where there is so much at stake should give him something tangible to hold onto, a lasting sense of what the hard work is for.

Philippoussis sounded like someone who had experienced a conversion when he called the match "the best moment of my life."

"I got injured at Wimbledon this year, and who knows if I could have gone on to win there. But I would take this for a Wimbledon win any time."

Perhaps in three years, Philippoussis will have a small streak of Top 10 finishes alive. If he can, he might equate that kind of consistency with what he accomplished last weekend in France.