Scud survives scare
© Gudrun Laufer-Vetter 10/25/99
Philippoussis sets up Agassi clash
Mark Philippoussis was taken all the way by Gianluca Pozzi in the first round of the Eurocard Open today, eventually winning 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
The Australian, who only recently returned to competition after knee and ankle injuries, had to save two breakpoints at 5-5 all in the third set but held his nerve and broke to take the match in a nailbiting climax
Australian sets up Agassi clash
"I prefer to win like that, saving breakpoints," said Philippoussis afterwards. "It would have been easier to win in straight sets, I know, but it's a good feeling to take into the next match.
That match will be against the top-seed and World No.1 Andre Agassi, who received a bye into the second round. "I'm looking forward to it," said the Australian. "It doesn`t matter who's on the other side of the net, if I play good tennis I'm going to be tough to beat."
Dominik Hrbaty joined Philippoussis in the second round after he too came through a tough three-setter against Thomas Johnansson. Hrbaty won 6-7(3, 7-6(4), 6-1 and will now meet Lyon champion Nicolas Lapentti.
Micahel Chang needed all his trademark determination to see off home favorite Rainer Schuttler, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2. Shuttler made the better start but the American hung on to level the macth and accelerated away in the decider, breaking Schuttler's serve twice.
There was more US success when Chris Woodruff defeated Francisco Clavet 6-4, 6-2 and will now play defending champion Richard Krajicek.
Philippoussis scrapes through first round in Stuttgart
By Julian Bristow
Mark Philippoussis has used up his "Get out of Jail Free" card in his opening-round match at the Eurocard Open in Stuttgart, scraping by 34-year-old Italian qualifier Gianluca Pozzi in three tight sets. Philippoussis, who had won just one match since Wimbledon heading into the clash, faced an astonishing 21 break points during the match.
He saved all but one of those break points, dropping serve just once in the second set as he recorded a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory in just under two hours. But the performance is unlikely to give the Scud much confidence as he prepares to tackle top seed and the world's greatest service returner, Andre Agassi, in the second round.
Philippoussis hammered 20 aces and won 80 per cent of points on his first serve. But his stats on the second serve were worrying, winning just 40 per cent. Not the sort of figures you want before a clash with Agassi.
In another early first-round result from Stuttgart, Chris Woodruff defeated Francisco Clavet 6-1, 6-4.
Philippousis believes he can defeat Agassi
Copyright © 1999 Nando Media
Copyright © 1999 Reuters News Service
STUTTGART, Germany (October 25, 1999 7:09 p.m. EDT http://www.sportserver.com) - Australian Mark Philippousis beat Italian Gianluca Pozzi 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the Stuttgart Open on Monday in only his second match since injuring his knee in the Wimbledon quarterfinals three months ago.
It earned him a second round match against World No. 1 Andre Agassi and Philippouis said: "There is no reason why I can't win against Agassi."
Philippoussis was down 15-40 on his serve at 5-5 in the final set against 34-year-old Pozzi but battled back to win.
"Agassi is definitely a great player. He is No. 1 and has had an unbelievable year. But that doesn't matter," said Philippoussis.
"I don't care who is on the other side of the net. If I play good tennis it is going to be tough for him."
Agassi, who has won all four grand slam tournaments, needs a good result in Stuttgart to all but guarantee he finishes the year as World No. 1.
Agassi's main rival appears to be Australian Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the second seed in Stuttgart.
Agassi, Kafelnikov headline Eurocard Open tennis
SportsTicker
STUTTGART, Germany (Ticker) -- Andre Agassi of the United States and Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov each will try to gain the upper hand in the race to finish the year No. 1 this week at the $2.45 million Eurocard Open, a Super 9 indoor tennis event.
Agassi, the top seed and world No. 1, has split his last four matches since winning his second Grand Slam of the season at the U.S. Open in September. He also captured the French Open and two smaller tournaments, and reached the final at Wimbledon.
Kafelnikov trails Agassi by 302 points in the rankings but has points to defend this week after making the final last year. He lost to Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, who defeated Agassi in the third round a year ago.
Although he has reached four straight quarterfinals, Kafelnikov has not won three matches in a row since the U.S. Open, where he lost to Agassi in the semifinals. He won the Australian Open in January and the ABN/AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam a month later.
Third seed Todd Martin of the United States is trying to snap a three-match losing streak. Martin, whose only title of the year came at the Sydney International in January, has not won a match since topping Cedric Pioline of France to reach the U.S. Open final.
Slumping fourth seed Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil is playing on carpet, which is not one of his favorite surfaces. He is 23-6 on clay this year with two titles, but only 2-2 on carpet. Kuerten has dropped four of his past six matches.
Conversely, fifth seed Greg Rusedski of Britain struggled for much of the season but has perked up now that the circuit has moved back indoors. He won two of the last three events he has entered -- the Grand Slam Cup in Munich and the CA Tennis Trophy in Vienna-- and 13 of his past 14 matches. Five of Rusedski's nine career titles have come indoors.
Marcelo Rios of Chile is seeded sixth, followed by Germany's Nicolas Kiefer, who has won three titles this season and reached two other finals. Krajicek, who also won here in 1995, is eighth, with Alex Corretja of Spain and Tim Henman of Britain rounding out the top 10.
Tommy Haas of Germany, Vienna champion Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, Australian Open runner-up Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, Pioline, Karol Kucera of Slovakia and Sweden's Magnus Norman, who leads the tour with five victories this season, are the other seeds -- all of whom received first-round byes.
In a battle for the right to face Agassi, Mark Philippoussis of Australia outlasted Italian qualifier Gianluca Pozzi, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Philippoussis, who improved to 2-2 since coming back from knee surgery, fired 20 aces against only three double faults. He won 80 percent of his first serves and saved 20 of 21 break points.
In matches involving American players, Michael Chang rallied past Rainer Schuttler of Germany, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, while qualifier Chris Woodruff needed only 46 minutes to cruise past Francisco Clavet of Spain, 6-1, 6-4. Woodruff will face Krajicek in the second round.
Croatian Goran Ivanisevic's 10th appearance at Stuttgart turned out to be a short one as he suffered a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) loss to Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic. Ivanisevic won this event in 1992 and reached the 1994 final. His best result this season was a semifinal showing at the Swiss Indoors three weeks ago.
French Open finalist Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine was forced to retire in the second set of his match with Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic due to back problems. Vacek was leading, 6-1, 2-1.
In first-round matches involving unseeded players, Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty outlasted Thomas Johansson of Sweden, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, and Romania's Andrei Pavel eliminated Brazil's Fernando Meligeni, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Also, Magnus Larsson of Sweden ousted Italy's Laurence Tieleman, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, and Arnaud Clement of France slipped past Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).
First prize is $376,000.
Agassi cruises past Scud ... with a little help from Steffi
By Australian Tennis Magazine Editor Paul Macpherson
Top seed Andre Agassi has mixed business with pleasure in Stuttgart, warming up with girlfriend Steffi Graf and then ruthlessly disposing of Mark Philippoussis in straight sets to advance to the third round. In a rare treat for fans, Agassi practised with Graf, who later watched the match alongisde coach Brad Gilbert in the players' box. It was the first time Graf had been courtside for an Agassi match since their relationship became public news at the US Open.
Agassi put Philippoussis on the back foot early in both sets, breaking the towering Aussie's first service game on both occasions, which set up his comfortable 6-2, 6-4 win. Agassi, on track to end the season as the year-end No.1 for the first time in his career, made just four unforced errors for the entire match. He withstood 11 Philippoussis aces, and closed out the match with an ace of his own.
But a number of other seeds had a much rougher time on day three, with Tim Henman, Karol Kucera, Cedric Pioline and Yevgeny Kafelnikov bowing out. Tim Henman's crushing 6-3, 6-1 loss to 54th ranked Daniel Vacek could ultimately cost him a place in the ATP World Championships. "I'm making life difficult for myself," Henman said. "I'd really like to play that event again." Sjeng Schalken, also ranked outside the world's Top 50, upset the 15th seeded Kucera 7-5, 6-1.
In better news for the headline players, third seed Todd Martin beat Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-2, Tommy Haas defeated Wayne Ferreira 6-2, 7-6, Magnus Norman put out Marat Safin 6-4, 7-5, and Alex Corretja outlasted Jim Courier in three sets, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. Seeded 12, Nicolas Lapentti beat Dominik Hrbaty 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Agassi thrashes Scud
From ANN
28oct99
STUTTGART: Andre Agassi easily accounted for Australia's Mark Philippoussis here overnight, winning 6-2 6-4 in the second round of the Eurocard Open.
With Steffi Graf watching from the players' box alongside Agassi's coach Brad Gilbert, the top seed, playing for the first time in a fortnight, clearly showed his No.1 status against the 22nd-ranked Aussie.
Agassi got on top early against the Scud, who underwent knee surgery in July, failed in an early comback in August, missed the US Open with a basketball injury and has had a mixd return to the games over the past three weeks.
Agassi couldn't have been more pleased with his showing: "I certainly can't complain," said the 29-year-old American. "It seems like every match at a big tournament like this is very intense. Mark is dangerous (11 aces) and I had to be sharp."
While Agassi steered the question away from Graf, the level of media interest appeared to be less than it was a month ago.
He did admit: "Steffi's forehand is stronger than Brad's – a lot stronger."