MELBOURNE, Jan 12 AAP - Local hero Mark Philippoussis blasted his way to a first round victory in the opening match of the Colonial Classic tennis tournament here today.
The star of Australia's Davis Cup triumph overwhelmed reigning Australian Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (8-10) 6-1.
For Philippoussis the match put to rest fears that the injury which forced him out of last weekend's Hopman Cup could hamper his preparation for the Australian Open which begins at Melbourne Park next week.
The win coincided with the announcement that he had been seeded for the Open.
Philippoussis, the world No. 19, grabbed the last spot on the list of men's singles seeds thanks to the absence from the championship of Pat Rafter, Greg Rusedski and Marcelo Rios, all of whom are ranked above him.
On court today, Philippoussis showed he was close to his awesome best.
In the first set he overpowered his Russian opponent early in the match, breaking serve in the fourth game.
But Kafelnikov fought back to break in the ninth game, forcing the set to a tiebreaker which Philippoussis won 7-3.
In the second, the Australian held a match point before dropping the set in another tiebreak.
But in the final set, Philippoussis totally overwhelmed Kafelnikov.
Scud blasts back
From AAP
12jan00
LOCAL hero Mark Philippoussis blasted his way to a first round-victory in the opening match of the Colonial Classic tennis tournament at Kooyong today.
The star of Australia's Davis Cup triumph overwhelmed Australian Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (8-10) 6-1.
For Philippoussis, the match put to rest fears that the injury which forced him out of last weekend's Hopman Cup could hamper his preparation for the Australian Open, which begins at Melbourne Park on Monday.
The win coincided with the announcement that he had been seeded for the Open.
Philippoussis, the world No.19, grabbed the last spot on the list of men's singles seeds thanks to the absence from the championship of Pat Rafter, Greg Rusedski and Marcelo Rios, all of whom are ranked above him.
On court today, Philippoussis showed he was close to his awesome best.
In the first set he overpowered his Russian opponent early in the match, breaking serve in the fourth game.
But Kafelnikov fought back to break in the ninth game, forcing the set to a tiebreaker which Philippoussis won 7-3.
In the second, the Australian held a match point before dropping the set in another tiebreak.
But in the final set, Philippoussis totally overwhelmed Kafelnikov.
NEW LOOK SCUD UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
By Mike Hedge
MELBOURNE, Jan 12 AAP - There was a time not so long ago when it was an effort for Mark Philippoussis to offer much more than a grunt to the media.
As chips on shoulders went, Philippoussis seemed to have the full set.
Belligerent, arrogant, angry and, at times, plain rude; the teenage prodigy appeared to be destined for a hate-hate relationship with the press.
The Philippoussis attitude was perhaps best displayed in his notorious Davis Cup spat with team captain John Newcombe in 1998 when he complained that he wasn't being treated well enough and made himself unavailable to play for his country.
He said he had no respect for Newcombe, he said Davis Cup coach Tony Roche had favoured other players ahead of him and he found himself on the outer with his former teammates.
But that was then.
In the couple of years since the Davis Cup incident, Philippoussis has played in a US Open final and, among other things, played a pivotal role in Australia regaining the Davis Cup.
And today at Kooyong, the one-time bad boy showed just how far he has come since.
Today, the player who used to regard the most cursory media inquiry as something to be treated with suspicion and disdain, sat before his former protagonists and chatted freely and happily on a range of subjects, not the least of them his toilet habits.
Asked about a mid-match conversation he had with the umpire during his Colonial Classic match against Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Philippoussis said he had merely been requesting permission to leave the court.
"I wanted to have a toilet break but the new rules apply and you can only take a toilet break after each set," he told reporters.
"But I said (to the umpire) that I really had to go.
"He said 'you have to wait', but I said to him that if I have to go during the match, then I'm going to go - I'm not going to be waiting."
Philippoussis went on to talk happily about injuries, about how good it felt to win the Davis Cup and how much he was looking forward to playing well in next week's Australian Open.
"I'm quietly confident, put it that way," he said.
"I don't like to talk about it much, but I feel like I'm going to do well."
And that is perhaps the most gratifying things about the new Philippoussis off-court attitude - it has coincided with a marked improvement in his on-court performances.