Monday 3 January 2000

Cup win ushers in new era for Scud
By LINDA PEARCE, PERTH
(SportsToday)

If Mark Philippoussis was hungry for major success before leading Australia to Davis Cup victory over France last month, consider him now ravenous. As the summer tennis circuit begins, and Philippoussis' best chance of winning his national championship approaches, the Victorian has never felt better.

``Things finished off incredibly last year and this is a fresh year, and this has made me want it more,'' Philippoussis said yesterday. ``The way I felt at the end of last year through Davis Cup, the way I played, just showed what I can do.

``I don't really care for anyone else, but for myself to realise just the way I concentrated in that match (the reverse singles against Cedric Pioline) ... I can maintain that, and if I do, who knows what can happen this year?''

The first signs will come this week in Perth, where Philippoussis is partnering Jelena Dokic in defence of the Hopman Cup title they won a year ago. Back then, Philippoussis had just come off a troubled year in which he declared his Davis Cup unavailability and feuded publicly with officials and teammates.

Yet, as well as the trauma of knee surgery that scuttled a realistic Wimbledon chance, the past 12months have brought a return to the Australian team and a hero status befitting his Davis Cup efforts in Nice. His arrival for a brief pre-Christmas break in Williamstown with his mother and sister was launched by a ticker-tape parade through Melbourne and more national adulation than he could have imagined even a few months ago.

Incredible reception, incredible feeling, he said. But Philippoussis insists he is feeling no more pressure to perform than before. ``This is what it's all about,'' said the 23-year-old. ``It's going to make me train harder, make we want to win more. I know what I have to do, I know how I have to play, and I'm just looking forward to it.''

This month's Australian Open is the next big goal. And if there was one thing Philippoussis took away from the Davis Cup final, apart from his name etched forever on the trophy established by Dwight Davis, it was what he describes as an unprecedented level of ``focus'' and concentration from the first point to the last, and one which he now expects from himself in every match he plays.

Dokic, who stayed up through the night to watch the events from France, was impressed with her glimpse of the ne improved Philippoussis. ``I think it was great for Australia to win that,'' she said. ``I think it was a special win, and I've watched Mark play a lot and I've never seen him play that well, especially against Pioline.''

Coach Gavin Hopper said his charge could not be better prepared for the local circuit. Philippoussis will next head to Kooyong before taking the status of most-dangerous non-seed into the Australian Open. ``He's hitting the ball great, he's feeling good, he's in the best shape physically of his career, mentally he's very relaxed, and focused, and everyone knows he can win it,'' Hopper said.

``There's no doubt he's capable of winning a grand slam on every surface and for someone who works with him, all of a sudden knowing that's possible, it starts to get a little exciting at this time of year, because you know anything's possible.''

Australia's first opponent in the round-robin will be Thailand, which upset Japan 2-1 in Saturday night's playoff for the final place in the eight-team field. The two group B countries will meet tomorrow morning, with Dokic to lead-off against Tamarine Tanasugarn and Philippoussis to follow against Paradorn Srichaphan.

Belgium yesterday marked its debut in the mixed teams event with a 3-0 loss to fourth seed South Africa. Amanda Coetzer led off the South Africans with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Dominique Van Roost, leaving Wayne Ferreira to belt emerging Belgian star Xavier Malisse 6-2, 6-3. The South Africans then won the mixed doubles 7-5, 6-3.



Thailand upsets Australia in Hopman Cup

.c The Associated Press

PERTH, Australia (AP) - Thailand claimed a stunning upset over defending champion Australia at the Hopman Cup today, beating the host nation 2-1 in the mixed teams tennis tournament.

Tamarine Tanasugarn outplayed 16-year-old Jelena Dokic 6-1, 6-4 to give Thailand a 1-0 lead. Mark Philippoussis then leveled the series by beating Paradorn Srichaphan 6-1, 6-4 before Thailand rallied in the deciding doubles to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Tanasugarn allowed Dokic just three points on serve in the first set, then overcame stubborn resistance by the Australian in the second.

Dokic had a chance to get back into contention when Tanasugarn stumbled in the second set after taking a 4-1 lead. Dokic had two break points to even the set at 5-5 with Tanasugarn serving, but the Thai woman held on to win the set and the match.

Philippoussis, his confidence boosted by Australia's recent Davis Cup victory over France, took an early lead against Srichaphan, breaking to lead 2-1 before taking the first set in just 20 minutes.

But even though the Thai offered more resistance in the second set, Philippoussis was able to break serve at love in the final game to close out the match.

In the doubles, Australia was let down by Dokic's serve, while Srichaphan held his serve throughout and served his way out of trouble when facing a break point in the final game.

The turning point came when Philippoussis was broken for the only time in the match to allow Thailand to level at 3-3 in the second set.

``It was really incredible that we could break his serve. It was a miracle,'' Tanasugarn said. ``This is amazing. It's the biggest victory we've had for Thailand. We had confidence that we would play our best, but not that we'd win.''

Thailand, which qualified for the mixed team event by beating Japan on Saturday, is hoping to repeat the success of the Slovak Republic two years ago, when it won as a qualifier.

The round-robin event consists of two groups, and each team plays three times to determine who will contest Saturday's final. Group A consists of South Africa, the United States, Belgium and Sweden. Group B is made up of Australia, the Slovak Republic, Austria and Thailand.

AP-NY-01-04-00 0609EST

Tennis-Thai pair shock Hopman Cup holders

PERTH, Australia, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Thai duo Tamarine Tanasugarn and Paradorn Srichaphan staged a shock Hopman Cup victory over Australian holders Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic on Tuesday.

The singles were shared but the Thais took the deciding doubles in the mixed team event 3-6 6-3 6-4.

``This is probably the biggest victory that we've had for Thailand,'' said Tamarine, who had opened with a 6-1 6-4 success over Dokic.

Paradorn, world ranked 105 and Tamarine, 72, seemed more comfortable with each other than their Australian opponents, who had not teamed up since since last year's event.

``We won today because we were enjoying the match and had nothing to lose,'' said Paradorn.

Philippoussis and Dokic can still retain their crown -- last year they came back from a round-robin defeat by South Africa.

05:02 01-04-00

TENN: SHOCK LOSS FOR AUSSIES
By Scott Coghlan

PERTH, Jan 4 AAP - Thailand has recorded one of the great upsets in the 12 year history of the Hopman Cup, by beating defending champions Australia in their round robin tie at the Burswood Dome today

The Thai team of Paradorn Srichaphan and Tamarine Tanasugarn only won their place in the eight team field by beating Japan in a qualifier last Saturday and were quoted at 80-1 for the title a few days ago.

The match was beamed into Thailand live and Tanasugarn said it ranked as one of the country's biggest tennis wins.

"This is amazing," she said.

"This is probably the biggest victory that we have had for Thailand.

"We were half-confident that we would play our best, but not really that we would win.

"But I played my best and we played so well in the mixed doubles."

Australia entered the tournament as 7-4 favourites, but had an early setback when a listless Jelena Dokic was beaten in straight sets by Tanasugarn in the women's singles, 6-1 6-4.

Mark Philippoussis levelled the tie with an impressive straight sets win over Srichaphan by the same scoreline, setting up a deciding mixed doubles rubber.

After taking the first set 6-3, the Australians looked to be cruising when they were up a break in the second set with Philippoussis to serve next.

However, the match turned when a loss of concentration from Philippoussis saw him serve two double faults and helped the Thais break back for 3-all.

When Dokic was broken in her next service game after a number of deuces, the underdogs suddenly led 5-3 and were about to level the match.

With her serve faltering, Dokic was broken twice in succession in the final set, the Thais holding a 5-4 lead with Srichaphan, who was the only player on the court who hadn't been broken during the match, to serve.

Australia held a break point, but Srichaphan pulled out successive big serves to hold advantage and when Philippoussis pushed his forehand return long, the rank underdogs had surprised even themselves by winning the tie.

A disappointed Dokic was at a loss to explain her performance in both the singles and mixed doubles.

"It has just been one of those really bad days," she said.

"It was my first match for a couple of months, so hopefully I can play much better tomorrow."

Dokic never looked comfortable on the court during either match and Tanasugarn, who has been ranked as high as 33 but took most of last year off to concentrate on study, pounced for a 6-1 6-4 win in the singles.

Tanasugarn won all five of the break points she held in the match, while Dokic had one more, but converted just two.

In the men's singles, Philippoussis was too strong for Srichaphan in an identical scoreline to the Dokic-Tanasugarn match.

Although Srichaphan served more aces than the Aussie, three successive breaks gave Philippoussis the first set and he broke again in the 10th game of the second set to take the match.

The Aussies also lost their first tie last year and face Austria next, while the Thais play the Slovak Republic.

Thursday 6 January 2000
Australia back-on-track for back-to-back
(SportsToday)

Australia's dream of back-to-back Hopman Cup titles is well and truly alive again after Sydney teenager Jelena Dokic bucked the odds to inspire victory in their round-robin clash with Austria at the Burswood Dome in Perth last night.

While Mark Philippoussis sealed the win with a three sets win over Stefan Koubek in the men's singles, it was the performance of the Belgrade-born Dokic that catapulted the home side back into contention.

Dokic, ranked 43 in the world, climbed off the canvas twice to upset world No.8 Barbara Schett in three sets, 1-6 6-2 7-5.

Thrashed in the first set and down a break in the final set, the 16-year-old gave further proof of her enormous talent by rallying to record a win on a par with any so far in her fledgling career.

Dokic was humbled in straight sets yesterday by Thailand's unheralded Tamarine Tanasugarn and looked down and out when the powerfully built Schett took the first set in 18 minutes.

The 16-year-old was looking nothing like the confident teenager that took the world by storm at the same event last year by beating the highly ranked Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Sandrine Testud in consecutive matches as the Aussies won the event for the first time.

But a transformation came over the match in the second set, Dokic gaining an early break as her groundstrokes suddenly found their range.

Dokic's serve also improved markedly and when she broke Schett again in the eighth game, she had levelled the rubber.

In a gripping last set that went for exactly an hour and had every one of the sell-out crowd of over 8,000 on the edge of their seats, it was Dokic who grabbed an early break for a 2-0 lead, before Schett reeled off four games in succession to grab the momentum.

At 2-4, Dokic called for an injury time-out, with the trainer working on her lower back. She returned a different player again, winning the next three games and at 5-4 had two match points on Schett's serve.

But Schett, who was growing increasingly frustrated by what she clearly felt were hometown line calls, held on and levelled at 5-all, before Dokic held her serve again.

Dokic earned a third set point in Schett's next service game, the Austrian pushing a forehand long to end the match. ``I think it was more mental than anything,'' Dokic said of the turnaround.

``I just made too many errors. I wasn't moving my feet, they just weren't there, but it was good to regroup and come back.

``It is good to win a tough three set match like this, especially against a player like her.'' Philippoussis had a little too much firepower for Koubek in the final analysis, winning 6-3 3-6 6-1.


Australia takes out Hopman Cup tie
(ABC News; 01/06/2000)

Australia's campaign for consecutive Hopman Cup titles is back on track, after beating Austria in both singles matches in Perth.

Mark Philippoussis defeated Stefan Koubek 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 while Jelena Dokic won her match against Barbara Schett 1-6, 6-2, 7-5.

The Austrian pair went on to win the mixed doubles 7-5, 6-3 but Australia had already captured the tie.

Dokic lost the first set in just 17 minutes and says the crowd helped her come back.

"It definitely helped me through it," she said. "I don't think I would have done it without them; it's great.

"They were with me the whole time and to have someone support you it's great and Australian fans are just unbelievable."

Philippoussis says Dokic's shaky start had him nervous.

"I was a bit worried in the first set after 15 minutes but she came back really well and should be really happy with the way she played," he said.

Philippoussis says that after losing the second set of his singles encounter, he used the short break before the third to regain his composure.

"I lost concentration midway through the second set and lost eight straight points," he said. "I wasn't moving my feet.

"But I think that's where those two minutes count."

Philippoussis steers Australia home at Hopman Cup
By Julian Bristow

Mark Philippoussis capitalised on the heroic victory of teammate Jelena Dokic to keep Australia's Hopman Cup chances alive at the Burswood Dome in Perth overnight. Philippoussis beat Austrian Stefan Koubek 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to give the defending champion an unbeatable 2-0 lead. Earlier in the night, Dokic recovered from dropping the first set 6-1 in just 18 minutes to beat Barbara Schett 7-5 in the third set.
Philippoussis was pleased to get away with his victory after taking a neck complaint into the match. "I woke up this morning and I couldn't move my neck at all and went out on the court at one o'clock and tried to hit. I just said 'I'm not playing tonight'.".

Fortunately, a physiotherapist fixed the Scud's ailment. Philippoussis serve nine aces and won 71 per cent of points on his first and second serves. He also blasted 17 forehand winners.

Austria won back some respect by taking the mixed doubles 7-5, 6-3 in 64 minutes.

In today's action, the Slovak Republic and Thailand play in the day session. A double-header at night sees the United States tackle South Africa and Belgium play Sweden.

Injury holds key to Australian advance

By LINDA PEARCE

A neck strain which almost prevented Mark Philippoussis from playing in Wednesday's match against Austria has been fixed, and the back and hamstring tightness which prompted Jelena Dokic to call a treatment time-out has eased - but it may still be an injury which helps to determine Australia's Hopman Cup fate today.

The team most likely to qualify from group B is Thailand, who took another big scalp yesterday by defeating the third-seeded Slovak Republic through two injury defaults and Paradorn Srichaphan's impressive upset of world No17 Karol Kucera.

But should the Thais lose to Austria in today's final session, and Australia beat the struggling Slovakians at the same time, the team to qualify for tomorrow's final will be determined by calculating matches, sets and perhaps even games won.

Still to be discovered is whether Slovak Henrieta Nagyova will be fit to compete against Jelena Dokic, having strained an adductor muscle yesterday and defaulting at 1-4 in the third set of her match against Tamarine Tansugarn.

Srichaphan's 6-4 6-7 6-2 win - the best in a short career which is yet to take him into the world's top 100 - gave Thailand a 3-0 victory. The Asian qualifiers were also awarded a 6-0 6-0 score in the mixed doubles when Nagyova withdrew, and this may be vital if the columns are tallied to decide who advances to play group A favourites South Africa.

At least both Australians should be fit, although that was doubtful for a time. Philippoussis woke on Wednesday unable to move his neck and considered withdrawing before he beat Stefan Koubek in three sets. Philippoussis was treated by chiropractor Noel Patterson and completed his match. "I feel incredible now, he did a great job," Philippoussis said.

Philippoussis sealed Australia's first win of the tournament with Dokic, who opened with a brilliant form reversal against world No8 Barbara Schett.

Dokic, thrashed 6-1 in an 18-minute first set, took the next two sets 6-2 7-5, and said she had been bothered by muscle tightness, but did not call a time-out until falling behind a service break in the third set. "I've been getting treatment on it and it got better before the match," Dokic said. "As the match went on it got more tight, but it's fine, nothing serious."

A great Dokic comeback also provided one of the Hopman Cup's more dramatic postscripts, as Schett accused the Australian chair umpire of cheating.

During the third set, Schett was heard on the courtside microphone accusing Victorian Leanne White of local bias, and refused to shake her or Dokic's hand after the match.

"Probably I said that," Schett admitted when asked about the cheating claim. "I don't know because I was really getting very upset and it has never happened before to me in a match. But some of those calls have never happened, too, and I felt she was cheating on me, the umpire. I really felt that."

Several of the line calls that favoured the Australian did, admittedly, appear very dubious, but Schett's composure was affected to the point where she received a code violation warning for ball abuse. She appeared to receive at least one poor call as she served to stay in the match at 5-6, and was also called for footfaults at crucial times.

"There were four or five calls which were like half a metre out, and I think everybody saw they were really in deciding moments," Schett said. "Those were two games, I would have made them, and if I'd made them I would have won the match, so that was a little bit frustrating for me.

"If I lose, I am not really the kind of person blaming anybody, because I am accepting it and it is tough to make always the right call out there, but normally it is even on both sides."

Dokic, for her part, said she had seen it all before, and the 16-year-old now holds a 3-0 lead over the Austrian No1. "Every ball that was close she argued about it, but that is just the way it is and you have to cope with it," Dokic said.

"Sometimes, when matches get close, she gets a bit like that. I mean, I've played her before and she has done it, but you just have to get on with your game."

For the Slovakians, a fit Nagyova will be vital today against Australia, who enter their final round-robin match with a revitalised Dokic and an intimidating Philippoussis, who has started brilliantly in both singles matches but hopes to avoid a mid-match lapse against Kucera, who served 16 double faults among 59 unforced errors against Srichaphan.

"I lost concentration in the middle of the second set," Philippoussis said of the Koubek match. "But that is why it's great playing these matches, just to get that out of the way, because obviously I can't let that happen in the Australian Open.


Friday 7 January 2000

Injuries set cat among pigeons in the cup
By LINDA PEARCE, PERTH
(from SportsToday)

A neck strain that almost prevented Mark Philippoussis from playing in Wednesday's match against Austria is fixed and the back and hamstring tightness that prompted Jelena Dokic to call a treatment time-out has eased, but it may still be an injury that today helps to determine Australia's Hopman Cup fate.

The frontrunner to qualify from group B is tournament surprise Thailand, which lopped another big scalp yesterday by defeating the third-seeded Slovak Republic through two injury defaults and Paradorn Srichaphan's impressive upset of world No.17 Karol Kucera.

But should the Thai team lose to Austria in today's final session, and its first victim Australia beat the struggling Slovakians at the same time, the team to qualify for tomorrow's final would be determined by calculating matches, sets and perhaps even games won.

Slovak Henrieta Nagyova is unlikely to be fit to compete against Jelena Dokic, having strained an abductor muscle yesterday. She defaulted at 1-4 in the third set of her match against Tamarine Tansugarn - herself suffering from a lower back strain and requiring treatment - and then withdrew from the mixed doubles.

If she pulled out, Australia would play losing qualifier Japan, and would need to win 3-0 to have any chance of progressing.

Srichaphan's 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 win, the biggest of a short career that is yet to take him into the world's top 100 but surely soon will, gave Thailand a 3-0 victory. The Asian qualifiers were also awarded a 6-0, 6-0 score in the mixed, which may be vital if the columns are tallied to decide which of the Thais, Australians and Austrians advance to play group A favorite South Africa.

At least both Australians should be fit, although that was in doubt for a time. Philippoussis declared little more than seven hours before his three-set defeat of Stefan Koubek that he would have to withdraw from his second match of the tournament, having woken on Wednesday unable to move his neck.

``I went out on the court at 1pm and tried to hit and stopped after two minutes and said `I am not playing tonight','' Philippoussis said after sealing Australia's first win of the tournament with partner Dokic, who opened with a brilliant form reversal against world No.8 Barbara Schett.

Philippoussis was then treated by chiropractor Noel Patterson and completed the match. ``I feel incredible now, he did a great job,'' he Philippoussis said. ``Before the match I was looking 50-50, but I got it straightened out and no complaints.''

Dokic, thrashed 6-1 in an 18-minute first set, said she had been bothered during the day by muscle tightness, but did not call a time-out until falling behind a service break in the third set.

``I've been getting treatment on it and it got better before the match,'' Dokic said. ``I guess as the match went on and we played more it got more tight, (but) it is fine, nothing serious.''

For the Slovaks, a fit Nagyova will be vital today against Australia, which will enter its final round-robin match with a revitalised Dokic and the intimidating Philippoussis.