Luke Dennehy and Leo Schlink
29jan04
POP diva Delta Goodrem is furious after being blamed for distracting Mark Philippoussis before he crashed out of the Australian Open.
And Philippoussis is angry at former coach Pat Cash, who implied the Scud's socialising was the reason for his shock loss.
Even TV funnyman Nick Giannopoulos, a mate of the Scud's, has bought into the feud.
"I think it's payback time for Pat Cash because Mark sacked him as the coach," Giannopoulos, said.
A source close to Goodrem told the Herald Sun she was not staying at the same hotel as Philippoussis and was in bed at 11pm the night before the match on Monday.
"She is very hurt and found the comments disrespectful," the source said. "She is not that kind of girl."
The day after Scud's inglorious exit, Cash said his former protege looked tired.
Philippoussis was staying at the Crown Towers; Goodrem and her mother, Lea, were staying at the new Crown Promenade hotel across the road. On Sunday night, Goodrem was seen being escorted by security guards into the Crown Promenade well before 11pm.
The source said Goodrem was not well enough to be up all night, as she recovers from Hodgkin's disease.
"She just wanted to come to the tennis to have fun, get out of the house, and support a friend," the source said.
The last thing she wanted to do was distract him from his Australian Open campaign, the source said.
An angry Philippoussis reprimanded Cash in a phone call yesterday. Word of a showdown spread quickly around Melbourne Park.
Goodrem and Philippoussis have formed a close bond in the pasttwo weeks.
She returned to Sydney on Tuesday after being spotted hand in hand the night before at Crown after Philippoussis's loss to unseeded Moroccan Hicham Arazi.
Cash could not be contacted last night.
It's not the first time he has commented on Philippoussis' private life. Last year, he linked the Scud to tennis sex symbol Anna Kournikova.
