Defending champion Mark Philippoussis has scraped into the second round of the Sybase Open in San Jose with a 7-6(10-8), 4-6, 7-6(3) victory over Guillermo Canas. The Davis Cup-dazed Australian, who had barely touched down on American soil after helping his country win the first round Tie against Switzerland, was on the back foot against Canas in the first set and found it hard to cope with the Argentinian's big forehands.
It took Scud two hours, 12 minutes to overcome Canas with some tidy work at the net on key points. "It was a very tough match and I am happy to get through. It was very difficult coming from Davis Cup and he played well," Philippoussis said. He now has an appointment with Ronald Agenor, widely regarded as a dangerous competitor and, at 35, the oldest player in the Top 100. This will be the first time Scud has played him.
Also looking good in the San Jose tournament is Michael Chang, who takes on Cecil Mamiit, the man who defeated him in the semi-finals of last year's Sybase Open. The Californian beat Chang in three sets before losing the final to Philippoussis. Chang, who did not win a title last year, almost broke the drought when he reached the final in Auckland at the start of 2000. He lost to Magnus Norman, then was ejected from the first round of the Australian Open by Roger Federer.
Philippoussis barely avoids upset at Sybase Open
SportsTicker
SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- Defending champion Mark Philippousis of Australia barely survived his first-round match tonight as he began defense of his Sybase Open title.
Philippousis, at No. 2 the highest seed remaining, outlasted Guillermo Canas of Argentina, 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3).
Top seed and four-time winner Andre Agassi and fellow American Vincent Spadea -- the third seed -- withdrew Tuesday with injuries, leaving Philippoussis as the highest remaining seed.
Agassi experienced severe cramps and back spasms during a 24-hour flight from Harare to the Bay area following the United States' successful first-round Davis Cup tie against Zimbabwe.
The world's top-ranked player began to practice at the San Francisco Tennis Club on Tuesday before giving in to the pain and visiting a sports chiropractor in San Francisco.
"Once I started moving left to right, I wasn't in a state where I could hit big shots," said Agassi, the Australian Open champion and winner of three of the last four Grand Slams.
Dr. Lenny Stein diagnosed Agassi with spondylisthesis, which could lead to inflammation near the lower vertebrae. Agassi is expected to fly home to Las Vegas and visit his personal doctor to determine if an MRI is necessary.
"I wish I was feeling a lot better," Agassi said. "It's not good. "It started in Australia with my match against Pete (Sampras). After Australia, I took a couple of days off before resting for Zimbabwe and I felt rested."
Before teammate Chris Woodruff's dramatic clinching victory over the Africans, Agassi experienced altitude sickness and dehydration during his final match.
"During the match (in Harare), he was throwing up six times," said American Paul Goldstein. "I just felt for him. It was amazing the way he played out there."
Scott Humphries of the United States took Agassi's spot in the draw and lost to Mark Woodforde of Australia, 6-4, 6-4, tonight.
Spadea withdrew due to a shoulder injury and was replaced by lucky loser Xavier Malisse of Belgium, who defeated Australia's Richard Fromberg on Tuesday but lost to Goldstein today, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
Like Agassi, Philippoussis is fresh off Davis Cup first-round play in which his country came from behind to win. He lost his first singles match to Roger Federer of Switzerland on Friday but came back to defeat George Bastl, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, to lift Australia to victory.
In second-round action here, fifth seed and 1992 runner-up Jim Courier of the United States held off Hernan Gumy of Argentina, 7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-4), and seventh seed Wayne Ferreira of South Africa bounced Finnish qualifier Ville Liukko, 6-3, 6-3.
Courier, 29, posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over countryman Eric Taino on Tuesday. He had lost his only previous match of the season to Nicolas Escude in the first round of the Australian Open and was left off the Davis Cup team that defeated Zimbabwe last weekend.
"I caught the flu in January but I have overcome that," said Courier, a former world No. 1 who has not won a tournament in almost two years. "I know how to win matches so it's just match experience that I need to get back into things. There is no one here, I don't think, that I can't compete with."
In two second-round matches involving non-seeded players, Sargis Sargsian of Armenia pounded John Van Lottum of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-3, and Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic eliminated Nicolas Massu of Chile, 6-4, 6-2.
First prize is $49,500.
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Tennis-Philippoussis opens title defence with win
By Matthew Cronin
SAN JOSE, California, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Just three days after a dramatic five-set Davis Cup victory, defending champion Mark Philippoussis of Australia made a successful return to the $375,000 Sybase Open, overcoming Argentina Guillermo Canas 7-6 (10-8) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) on Wednesday.
Still foggy from his long flight after beating Switzerland's George Bastl in Davis Cup, Philippoussis struggled in the first set, moving sluggishly and frequently finding himself chasing Canas huge forehands. But in the tiebreaker, the 6-foot-4 (1.93 metres) second seet successfully converted volleys on key points and won the set on a blazing backhand down-the-line return.
In the second set, the rangy Argentine unnerved Philippoussis with a series of sharp backhand returns and rolling inside-out forehands.
Canas led Philippoussis in the third-set tiebreak, racing ahead 3-1 on a leaping overhead. But the Aussie bore down and snared six straight points and the match behind his big first serve and a couple of devasating down-the-line winners.
``It was extremely tough,'' Philippoussis said. ``I was mentally fatigued from Davis Cup and it was good just to get through.''
With the withdrawal of world number one Andre Agassi due to injury, the draw is wide open for the likes of Philippoussis and veterans Wayne Ferreira, the seventh seed, and fifth seed Jim Courier.
As had become his routine over the past four years whenever he faces a strong-legged clay courter, Courier engaged in a long, grinding battle before overcoming Argentine Hernan Gumy 7-5 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-4) in two hours, 46 minutes. Courier whacked 49 winners in the match, including a service winner on match point.
``There's a misconception that when I was number one I was dominant and rolling though guys,'' said the 29-year-old Courier, the former number one who has not won a title in nearly two years. ``I had a couple of hot streaks when I was kicking ass for a few weeks but mostly I was grinding through guys and winning most of the big points, which is why I was number one.''
Courier, who hasn't won a Grand Slam title since 1993 but who occasionally shows flashes of brilliance as he did last year in winning the clinching Davis Cup match over Greg Rusedski, said he has too many interests now to rediscover the single-mindedness that brought him to the top of his game.
``In the early part of my career I was very much in the tunnel, practicing hard and rarely taking time off. I was very focused and the fun part was winning. You don't think about it when you're 22, you just keep going.''
When asked to describe the state of his game, Courier joked: ``It's like South Dakota. You know it's there, you're just not really sure where.''
Courier next was to play young American Paul Goldstein in the quarter-finals. Goldstein overcame Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-2 3-6 7-5.
Ferreira -- a South African who now lives 40 miles (60 km) away from San Jose in Berkeley -- had little trouble in his 6-3 6-3 second-round win over Finland's Ville Liukko.
``I played really solid except for my serve,'' Ferreira said. ``The last time I played him he tried to keep the ball in play a little more but this time he tried to end the points quicker.''
Ferreira, a former top 10 player who has not won a title in nearly four years, said that Agassi's withdrawal has presented him with a golden opportunity.
``It will nice to play someone else other than Andre in the quarter-finals,'' said Ferreira. ``It's tough for the tournament to lose a player of his calibre, but any title would be great for me right now. I'm hitting the ball well and have as good a chance as anybody.''
First-round winners on Wednesday included Aussie Mark Woodforde, Czech Tomas Zib and Armenia's Sargis Sargisian.