Mark Philippoussis
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| Image:Mark Philippoussis 2006 Australian Open.JPG | ||
| Country | Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia | |
| Residence | California, USA | |
| Date of birth | November 7, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Melbourne, Australia | |
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (195 cm) | |
| Weight | 217 lb (98 kg) | |
| Turned Pro | 1994 | |
| Plays | Right | |
| Career Prize Money | $6,953,757 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 313-201 | |
| Career titles: | 11 | |
| Highest ranking: | 8 (April 19, 1999) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 4r (1996,1999,2000,2004) | |
| French Open | 4r (1997,2000) | |
| Wimbledon | F (2003) | |
| U.S. Open | F (1998) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 98-72 | |
| Career titles: | 3 | |
| Highest ranking: | 18 (August 11, 1997) | |
Mark Anthony Philippoussis (born November 7, 1976 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian tennis player. He turned professional in 1994 and is currently residing in California. He regards himself as both Australian and Greek and as a child spoke Greek as his first language [1]. He has also had a minor career in modelling.
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[edit] Style
Philippoussis' style of play is to hit every shot hard. Many players hit serves hard, but only Mark Philippoussis can hit a groundstroke at the same speed, earning the nickname Scud. He is widely regarded as the hardest hitter in the history of the game, next to Lew Hoad.
Philippousis generates his power with his upper-body strength and powerful legs. His height of 6'5" (195 cm) also gives him an advantage over his opponents as well as his powerful physique weighing in at 98kg.
[edit] Early career
Coached by his father, Nick Philippoussis, the right-hander has played tennis since he was six years of age. He was briefly coached by former 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash during his junior years, which ended in an acrimonious split.
In 1994, he finished third in single ranking for juniors. Philippoussis also finished as junior doubles champion with Ben Ellwood in Australia, Wimbledon, and Italy. He turned professional in 1994.
In 1995, at the age of 19, he was the youngest player in the year-end top 50. In 1996, he reached the 4th round of the Australian Open upsetting Pete Sampras in the 3rd round and in doubles with Patrick Rafter, he advanced to semi-finals at Wimbledon and US Open. On May 25, 1997, he recorded a personal best 229.0 km/h (142.3 mph) serve in a game he lost to Albert Costa.
[edit] Rise to top 10
In 1998, he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open losing to fellow Australian Patrick Rafter. On March 29, 1999, he entered the top 10 for the first time and stayed there for 11 weeks. He advanced to the quarter finals at Wimbledon for the second straight year and retired in 2nd set against no. 1 Pete Sampras after having won the first set. He suffered a moderate cartilage tear in his left knee and underwent arthroscopic surgery four days later on July 6. He returned to professional tennis seven weeks later in Indianapolis and lost in his opening match. He did not play again until October 12 in Singapore where he lost in 2nd Round.
He finished 1999 in the top 20. 2000 was the fourth consecutive year in which he finished in the top 20. He reached the 4th round at the Australian Open losing to eventual champion Andre Agassi. He defeated Pete Sampras 8-6 in the fifth set at Roland Garros in a 1st round match but lost in the 4th round. For the third consecutive year, he made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon losing again to Andre Agassi. He appeared in his second Olympics, losing in 3rd Round to eventual gold medalist Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He finished 2002 in the top 100 (7th time in 8 years) despite not winning a title. He moved from Miami to San Diego, California area in September 2002.
[edit] Davis Cup
Mark Phillipoussis is also a member of the Australian Davis Cup Team.
Philippoussis has always claimed to be proud of representing his country but personal differences with the Davis Cup Captain and Coach, John Newcombe and Tony Roche, interfered with his commitment to play early in his career. Despite several highly publicised feuds, Mark played a large part in giving Australia their 27th Davis Cup triumph - second only to the United States with 31 - but it was their first since 1986. In 1999 Mark defeated France's Cedric Pioline, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in front of a boistrous French crowd in Nice.
Injuries plaugued Mark's availability for Davis cup and was the cause of a public rift between team-mate Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt. Rafter publicily accused Philippoussis of 'jerking' the team around after he withdrew from a Davis Cup tie in late 2000. Philippoussis said Rafter was 'ill-informed' and upset by the lack of support and understanding from his team-mates.
Knee surgeries forced Philippousis out of Davis Cup till February 2003. By then Pat Rafter had retired, and John Fitzgerald and Wally Masur were the new Davis Cup captain and coach. The impact of these changes was instantly recognised as team harmony was at its highest throughout the year. Mark Philippoussis once again sealed victory for Australia in the Melbourne Final against Spain. Mark beat Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero in a 7-5 6-3 1-6 2-6 6-0 battle.
Phillipoussis has recently agreed to play for the Australian Davis Cup Team in the 2006 semi final against Argentina.
[edit] 2003 comeback
After three knee operations and a protracted comeback, Philippoussis avowed a new seriousness to his sport. He made himself available regularly for Davis Cup, hired a new physical trainer, and took up surfing as his new recreation. It seemed to work, as he made the 2003 Wimbledon final, finally losing to Roger Federer 6-7, 2-6, 6-7 [2].
During a 2003 Wimbledon tennis match against Andre Agassi (6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4), he set a new Australian tennis record of 46 aces served in a match, three aces short of the overall ATP Tour record then held by Richard Krajicek.
Philippoussis broke a two year singles title drought by winning the Shanghai Open in 2003. On 30 November 2003 he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain to win the fourth match of the Davis Cup final in Melbourne, securing the title for Australia. This victory in front of his home crowd won him a place in the affections of the Australian sporting public which some of his behaviour in earlier years - including refusal to play Davis Cup - had put in jeopardy.
[edit] Fall from grace
The honeymoon period with the Australian public, however, did not last. 2004 proved a disastrous year in terms of his tennis career and public profile. After shouldering most of the blame for losing Australia's Davis Cup tie with Sweden with an unexpected below par performance, Philippoussis struggled through to the Wimbledon fourth round in June 2004.
From Wimbledon in June until the end of the season in October, he failed to win a single ATP tennis match and finished with one of his lowest ever rankings since turning professional in 1994.
In October 2004, a much publicized affair with Delta Goodrem had soured and seriously damaged his standing when newspapers revealed that he dated Paris Hilton while with Goodrem. In March 2005, he became engaged to Miami-born actress and model Alexis Barbara. The Age reported the pair had split in July 2006, but Philippoussis has denied this to Australian tabloid New Idea.
He confirmed to Sydney's Daily Telegraph on August 23, 2006 that he fired his father as his coach and rehired Peter McNamara in an attempt to revive his career. [3]
[edit] 2006 Return
After some controversy over his wildcard selection firstly after a disappointing 2006 Australian Open, Philipoussis made more headlines when he again earned entry into the 2006 Wimbledon. He was knocked out in the 2nd round.
Leading into the Campbell's Hall of Fame Championships as a wildcard, his record was a modest 6-7. He had a fantastic run in the tournament, getting all the way to the final, where he defeated Justin Gimelstob in straight sets to claim his first title in almost three years.
Philippoussis, currently ranked #113, lost to Rafael Nadal as a wildcard entry in the 1st round of the 2006 US Open. As of late Mark has been training for his semi final Davis Cup clash against Argentina.
Australian tennis team for the Davis Cup lost against Argentina in an unpredictable 5-0. On Friday (September 22nd) Mark was defeated by David Nalbandian 6-4 6-3 6-3, in the first match of the serie.
Philippoussis has played in a series of challenges since the davis cup the 1st one he was knocked out of in the opening round but when he played in the calabasas challenger mark had a good run of form reaching the final where he defeated Amer Delic 6-7(4-7)7-6(7-4)6-3 to win the tournament.
[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Runner-ups (2)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1998 | U.S. Open | Image:Flag of Australia.svg Patrick Rafter | 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 0-6 |
| 2003 | Wimbledon | Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg Roger Federer | 6-7(5), 2-6, 6-7(3) |
[edit] Masters Series singles finals
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1999 | Indian Wells | Image:Flag of Spain.svg Carlos Moya | 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 |
[edit] Runner-ups (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2000 | Paris | Image:Flag of Russia (bordered).svg Marat Safin | 6-3, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(10) |
[edit] Titles (11)
[edit] Singles (11)
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[edit] Singles finalist (8)
- Sep 22 1997 - (lost to Nicholas Kiefer) Toulouse, France 7-5 5-7 6-4 Hard
- Sep 29 1997 - (lost to Greg Rusedski) Basel, Switzerland 6-3 7-6(6) 7-6(3) Carpet
- Aug 31 1998 - (lost to Patrick Rafter) U.S. Open, New York, USA 6-3 3-6 6-2 6-0 Hard
- Oct 02 2000 - (lost to Nicholas Kiefer) Hong Kong, China 7-6(4) 2-6 6-2 Hard
- Nov 13 2000 - (lost to Marat Safin) Paris, France 3-6 7-6(7) 6-4 3-6 7-6(8) Carpet
- Dec 31 2001 - (lost to Tim Henman) Adelaide, Australia 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 Hard
- March 3 2003 - (lost to Lleyton Hewitt) Scottsdale, Arizona, USA 6-4 6-4 Hard
- June 23 2003 - (lost to Roger Federer) Wimbledon Championships 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(3) Grass
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Albert Costa | ATP Newcomer of the Year 1995 | Succeeded by: Dominik Hrbatý |
| Preceded by: Richard Krajicek | ATP Comeback Player of the Year 2003 | Succeeded by: Tommy Haas |
es:Mark Philippoussis fr:Mark Philippoussis id:Mark Philippoussis it:Mark Philippoussis nl:Mark Philippoussis ja:マーク・フィリプーシス pl:Mark Philippoussis sv:Mark Philippoussis
Categories: 1976 births | Living people | Australian tennis players | Olympic competitors for Australia | Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics | Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics | Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics | People from Melbourne | Australian surfers | Greek Australians
