Mark Philippoussis' tennis racquet was connecting sweetly with the ball and the contact produced some thundering serves and explosive returns to secure him a place in the second round of the Heineken Open, Singapore.
The Scud hitting powerful shots is nothing out of the ordinary for the Australian but his effort on court attracted an extra element of attention because it was his return to the tennis tour.
Philippoussis defeated Bob Bryan 6-4, 6-4 and it was his first win since Wimbledon when he had to retire in the quarterfinals against Pete Sampras after tearing the cartilage in his left knee. His next time on court was in Indianapolis and he lost 6-1 in the third set to Arnaud di Pasquale in his first match. Then, just before the U.S. Open he sprained his ankle while playing basketball and missed that tournament where he was a finalist in 1998 as well as the Davis Cup semifinals.
He preferred to avoid making any comments for the moment on playing for Australia in the Davis Cup final but will give it plenty of consideration "when the time comes to discuss Davis Cup and then I'll talk about it".
The second seed has been practicing hard in Miami where he has now moved and he has been more than eager to get back on the match courts. There was a sense of anxiousness before he played Bryan but it was not a negative feeling.
"It wasn't an easy match, the first match is tough because I was getting the nerves out but I am happy to get that match under my belt and I felt happy with the way I played," said Philippoussis. "I felt great because I have trained hard and done the work and I was looking forward to the match."
Philippoussis' serve also picked up during the match as he loosened up. The fastest serve he hit was 204 kms per hour but the 22 year old joked the "speed clock was faulty, I was going for my serve". He said things will get better and better as he becomes "more fluent" and does not push his game.
"You know, you just don't realise how much you miss the game till you are away from it - I just love playing and I know now how much I missed it," said Philippoussis.
Jonas Bjorkman and Richard Fromberg stayed even till 3-3 in the first set but it has often been said that the seventh game of a set is a vital one and Fromberg jumped on a chance and broke serve when Bjorkman double faulted. But the very next game proved important to the Swede because this time it was Fromberg who double faulted while break point down.
Bjorkman broke again in the 12th game to win the first set 7-5 and he then grew in confidence and opened up a 4-1 lead before closing out the match 6-2. Even though Fromberg served more aces, six to one, Bjorkman's first serve percentage was a telling factor because it was as high as 64% for the match.
"I wasn't really into it in the beginning, it was like I wasn't ready and I didn't move well," said Bjorkman, "but when I broke back, I started to play better and better and in the second set I played really well."
Bjorkman, the eighth seed, has had a bit of a patchy year but he feels in the last two months his game has started to turn around. Coming into this Heineken Open, he is feeling confident and hitting the ball cleanly. Bjorkman will now face his countryman Mikael Tillstrom who accounted for Byron Black in the first match, 6-3, 6-4.
Andrew Ilie, the fifth seed, was in commanding form against Ramon Delgado and he beat the Paraguayan 6-2, 6-2 while seventh seed Jan-Michael Gambill defeated Justin Gimelstob 7-6, 6-4.
"It's always tough to play Justin because we sort of have a rivalry going," said Gambill. "We have played four times this year and it's now 2-2. I think we were both a bit nervous at the start."
Day three of the Heineken Open, Singapore will feature Marcelo Rios, Magnus Norman and Michael Chang. Rios the top seed and defending champion plays Fredrik Jonsson, Norman, who beat Rios in the Heineken Open, Shanghai final on Monday, plays Paradorn Srichaphan and Chang, looking for his first title in Singapore, faces Leander Paes.