He could have been Lazarus. Could have been Houdini. He could have been a

contender. Instead, Mark Philippoussis became just another casualty. And so

there are no Australians left in the Australian Open.

The man responsible for this - on the eve of Australia Day, no less, as the

tournament enters it second and most important week - is a 24-year-old Swede

named Thomas Enqvist, who lists his hobbies as soccer and innebandy, which

is apparently a form of floor hockey.

He has now wiped the floor with the two local hopes, Patrick Rafter and

Philippoussis, in the space of three days. A player in the mould of Mats

Wilander, who won three Open titles between 1983 and '88, Enqvist gave a

thumbs-up yesterday evening when he strolled off centre court. Not content

with beating Australians, he has also pinched their gestures.

When the vociferous, face-painted Swedish fans chant his name it sounds

like ``Too-much Enqvist'' . This certainly sums up his devastating impact on

the Australian favorites. On Friday, he beat Rafter in four sets; yesterday he

almost trounced Philippoussis in three.

For an hour-and-a-half Enqvist played what he later described as perfect

tennis. He baffled Philippoussis with changes of pace and muffled his

power with placement. The Scud, last Australian standing after the earlier

defeat of Andrew Ilie, was exploding all over the place.

But just before Enqvist stepped out to serve for the match, leading 5-4 in the

third set, the trumpet-player high in the stands who has become a regular

part of this tournament stood up and sounded the national anthem.

This was a splendidly patriotic but hopeless gesture, as it seemed that no

Australian, fair or otherwise, would be advancing anywhere. Philippoussis

was just four points away from elimination.

But then Enqvist proved that he had nerves rather than a humming

clockwork motor under his two-tone shirt. A series of errors by the Swede

gave Philippoussis his first service break for the match.

He levelled the set at 5-5, then took it to a tiebreak, urging the centre court

crowd to get behind him. Spectators responded, even drowning out the

yellow-and-blue Swedish brigade in scenes more reminiscent of a football

match than a sport linked more often with strawberries than singing, let

alone flag-waving (Greek as well as Australian for the local lad) and chants.

When Philippoussis took the fourth set 6-4, levelling the match at two sets

all after 140 minutes of play, it seemed that one of the great comebacks in

Open history was under way. But this was as far as it went. Philippoussis

came back. But he couldn't get ahead.

At two sets all, two games all, the match was level. It had begun in brilliant

sunshine and was now being played in shade. The players were like

boxers, trying to stay on their feet while finding an opening to land a

knockout blow. The grunts of Philippoussis as he whaled at the ball

increasingly sounded like groans. And then he cracked.

The man who is famous for his thunderous serve (another 26 aces

yesterday) double-faulted on break-point to give Enqvist a 4-2 lead. Then it

was 5-2, as Enqvist held serve again, finishing with an ace. Now the

Philippoussis forehand betrayed him, leaving him on the brink of defeat at

0-30. This time there would be no escape.

Enqvist - finally victorious after two hours and 51 minutes - appeared more

exhausted than exultant. Philippoussis was flattened. He slumped into his

chair, staring at his equipment bag. Many in the crowd seemed cheated:

after such a comeback, this was an anti-climax. Philippoussis was a gallant

loser, a fighting loser, but a loser nonetheless.

And now the tournament has lost its local drawcards. No Rafter. No

Philippoussis. No pony-tailed Dokic in the women's event, where Lindsay

Davenport (who won again last night) seems increasingly likely to be there

next weekend. As for the men, the final could yet be played by gentlemen

with names like Kafelnikov and Kucera, which wasn't what organisers had

in mind at all.

Enqvist, of course, could yet be there himself. Perhaps he was simply being

gallant in defeat, but Philippoussis gives him a good chance of pulling it off,

which would make him the first Swedish winner since Wilander in 1988,

when - in the last great Open final - he rolled Pat Cash in five sets.

Cash was there again yesterday, sitting in a front-row seat in his relatively

new role as a corner-man for Philippoussis. It seems that Cash just can't

escape the Swedes. Perhaps he has nightmares in blue and yellow. In his

time he fought them all: Wilander; Stefan Edberg; Mikael Pernfors in one

memorable Davis Cup tie at Kooyong in 1986.

Against Pernfors that time, Cash came from two sets down to win in five.

Yesterday he saw Philippoussis fight back, then lose in five. ``I've just got to

keep my head up high,'' Philippoussis said later. ``I gave it my all. I gave it

100per cent; that's all I could ask for.''

One hundred per cent wasn't quite enough. Close, but no cigar, let alone

any shiny trophy. For all Australian singles players, the Open is now officially

closed.