Philippoussis wears down Santoro

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Mark Philippoussis needed his full arsenal of firepower to beat Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.

In a match between two players with contrasting styles, the Australian 10th seed used brute force to overcome the soft touches of Santoro.

The Frenchman, who plays with a double-handed forehand and backhand, frustrated Philippoussis with his bag of tricks.

He caught the 27-year-old napping with his perfectly disguised drop shots and managed to put him off balance with his clever angles, lobs and change in pace.

"I was just glad to win," Philippoussis said. "He is an extremely difficult opponent, you don't know what he's going to do.

"It's important to go out there and concentrate on your game... I came out a little flat and he took advantage of that.

"I was making a lot of unforced errors, going for a little too much and as the match went on I got my timing and I was happy."

STRIKING BACK

Rattled by his opponent, Philippoussis dropped his serve in the ninth game to concede the opening set before striking back in the second.

The big Australian began to impose his own style, keeping the points short to avoid getting into rallies with Santoro.

Philippoussis took a two-sets-to-one lead as the tension began to tell on Santoro, who appeared to spit in the direction of a linesman after a controversial call went against him.

Philippoussis kept his composure and broke in the opening game of the fourth set.

He finished the match with his 19th ace to book a place in the third round against Croatian Mario Ancic.

Born and raised in Melbourne, Philippoussis is the local favourite to win after reaching the Wimbledon final last year then helping Australia win the Davis Cup at home in November.

"I don't feel like I want to prove anything to anyone (but) I want to prove it to myself because I know I can do it," Philippoussis said.

"That's what's left for me to do, to win a grand slam. That will be the icing for me."

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