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Misfiring Scud Philippoussis withdrawal ill-timed
Posted: Monday July 10, 2000 03:45 PM
In Australia's hour of need, Mark Philippoussis is nowhere to be seen. Philippoussis' decision to rest up and not risk a niggling knee injury rather than represent his country in the Davis Cup semifinals against Brazil is angering his teammates and an entire nation. It's easy to understand why. It means that both Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt have only two days to prepare for a potentially difficult tie in Brisbane following long flights from London after their appearances in the Wimbledon finals (Rafter in the men's singles and Hewitt in the mixed doubles). Philippoussis, meantime, will be relaxing at his parents' house in the southern city of Melbourne, despite his father's assurance last week to Aussie captain John Newcombe that the 23-year-old would be available to play. The man whose big-serve has earned him the nickname "Scud" has let his country down and demolished any bridge-building his recent "charm offensive" with the media during the British grass court season might have done. Australia would dearly love to have Philippoussis available to take on French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten and a surprisingly strong Brazilian team in the Davis Cup. Rafter will be exhausted and possibly flat after his exertions at Wimbledon and Hewitt will also be under-prepared and jet-lagged. Mark Woodforde will be without his doubles partner Todd Woodbridge, who made arrangements to attend a memorial service for golfer Payne Stewart in the United States after Newcombe left him out of a four-man team (opting for three singles players) announced last week. Now Sandon Stolle, with a poor record in Davis Cup, has been brought into the squad in case Rafter is too tired to play the key doubles rubber with Woodforde on Saturday. Tennis fans will remember how Philippoussis heroically spearheaded an Australian victory in the 1999 Davis Cup final against France in Nice last December. But they'll also recall how the former U.S. Open finalist chose to sit out a 1998 match against Zimbabwe during which the Aussies suffered a shock defeat on a grass court in rural Victoria after Rafter got ill. To make matters worse, Philippoussis turned up as an unwelcome spectator at the tie, which is a low point in recent Australian sporting history. It seems that Philippoussis has learned little from the experiences of the last couple of years and has the delusion that he deserves special treatment, which includes passing up Davis Cup play when he wants to. The irony for this talented underachiever is that his greatest career achievement is winning the 1999 Davis Cup. If anyone deserves special treatment, it is two-time U.S. Open champion Rafter, who is twice the player that Philippoussis will ever be, despite the greater natural gifts of his younger countryman. It's easy to see why Rafter is so much more popular than Philippoussis, both at home and abroad, with his friendly demeanor, disarming honesty and a passion for representing Australia. Indeed, Rafter hit the nail on the head when he said that Philippoussis should just come clean and make up his mind about Davis Cup, even if he decides to skip the competition altogether. After playing some long-matches at Wimbledon (including a five-hour epic against Sjeng Schalken ), Philippoussis is probably very tired, but no more so than Rafter. It does seem unlikely, though, that he is carrying a serious injury, nor will he delay his return to the ATP Tour at the completion of the Davis Cup tie. And please "Scud", don't bother turning up to the semifinal in Brisbane as a spectator ... unless you want to help the Brazilian cause. Australian-born Jason Dasey is an anchor for World Sport, a 30-minute sports news and highlights show on CNNSI and CNN International.
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