A month ago, some tennis fans wouldn’t have blinked twice
if Mark Philippoussis had dropped the sport in favor of his new
love, surfing.
Heading into Wimbledon unseeded with a match against Andre
Agassi looming in the fourth round, the tournament did not seem
like a promising place for the Aussie to resurrect his tennis
career. Yet after stunning the world’s top-ranked player in
five sets and moving on to reach the finals, he is suddenly the
only two top 10 players along with Lleyton Hewitt in this
week’s Mercedes-Benz Cup.
With the ranking comes a pressure that Philippoussis has become
all too familiar with. Five years ago, he made his only other
appearance in a Grand Slam Final at the U.S. Open, which helped him
elevate his ranking to No. 8. However, that success was short
lived, and a few years later he dropped out of the top 100.
“Before I wasn’t ready for the hype,” he said.
“But now I can handle it.”
Starting July 28, the tennis world will learn whether if
Philippoussis is truly ready to become an elite on the men’s
tour. With another No. 8 ranking following a Grand Slam, he hopes
this week’s tournament will validate his progress and not
bring back the nagging “underachiever” image he has
been given.
“The Wimbledon final made me hungrier,”
Philippoussis said. “I wasn’t happy standing there
seeing (Roger Federer) holding up the trophy.”
Philippoussis’ inability to maintain a high level of play
has always been traced to two conditions ““ his health and
desire. Throughout much of his career, he has shown flashes of
brilliance that have been overshadowed by an extreme lifestyle that
frequently neglected tennis. Before moving to the San Diego area
last year, he had been known to take in the Miami party scene to
its full extent.
“Life doesn’t come with a manual,”
Philippoussis said, not regretting his past. “I make my own
decisions and some are right and some are wrong.”
Moving to San Diego has appeared to be one of the right ones for
his tennis career. Although his laid-back nature is still evident
by the fact that he begins each day by surfing for three hours, he
now follows it up with rigorous fitness and training sessions.
“I’m training harder and my legs are
stronger,” Philippoussis said. “I’m feeling more
confident.”
Philippoussis’ emphasis on fitness is an optimistic sign
for his fans, who have been waiting nine years for him to reach his
potential. This potential seemed as though it might go permanently
unfulfilled two years ago when he underwent a third knee
surgery.
Confined to a wheelchair for two months, he spent plenty of time
in bed contemplating his options.
“I hadn’t accomplished anything,” he said,
reflecting on his career. “When I’m old, I don’t
want to regret anything or think what if I had worked
harder.”
Fans of Philippoussis’ serve-and-volley game hope this
recent resurgence continues. Since Goran Ivanisevic and Patrick
Rafter retired and Pete Sampras stopped competing, Philippoussis
has emerged as the premier server in the game. He served up 46 aces
in his recent win against Agassi, three shy of the Wimbledon
record. Nevertheless, he has been around long enough to realize
that his huge serve alone will not be enough to elevate him to the
top.
“The guys who have done the best have been the
fittest,” he said.
Although Philippoussis enters this tournament with the highest
ranking in the field, he was not promoted as one of the marquee
players. Nevertheless, the billboards and advertisements featuring
Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin and Gustavo Kuertan do not bother him
in the least bit.
“I don’t care about posters and
billboards,”Philippoussis said. “I just want to get out
there and play some good tennis.”
Philippoussis’ indifference toward public publicity is
characteristic of the easy-going, fun-loving reputation he has
earned. Throughout his career, fellow Aussies Rafter and Hewitt
have dominated the spotlight, yet he has not been disappointed.
Currently, while many players on the tour are currently
embroiled in controversy surrounding prize money at the Grand Slam
Events, Philippoussis shrugs off the issue.
“I haven’t thought about it much,” he
remarked. “I’m just focusing on tennis.”
Although fans tend to take a player’s emphasis on tennis
for granted, Philippoussis’ newfound dedication has energized
his fans. Still, they just wonder how long his motivation will
last. This week, they will start find out.