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Clay pigeon Aussie grass court ace downs clay court specialist
Posted: Friday June 02, 2000 08:09 PM
PARIS (AP) -- There is more to Mark Philippoussis than laser serves. He can slug with the best of them on the clay courts of the French Open. And he did just that on Friday, beating Hicham Arazi 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 of Morocco in the third round. "What has changed is my level of concentration," he said. "I wanted to come here and concentrate and not get upset on court," he said. Philippoussis still slammed plenty of big serves, finishing with 13 aces. But the 6-foot-4 Aussie showed surprising patience. The key came at the start of the second set when Philippoussis broke Arazi without leaving the baseline. Philippoussis surged through the set in 25 minutes. Arazi made a brief comeback but Philippoussis broke in the sixth game of the fourth set. He then held serve and will next play Spanish prodigy Juan Carlos Ferrero. Many expected Philippoussis to struggle against Arazi, who is ranked 22nd and loves clay. The Moroccan twice reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. But Philippoussis, superb on clay in last year's Davis Cup final against France, said he has no problems with the Roland Garros surface. "I was not out there slapping winners everywhere," he said. "I was very happy with the way I played." Philippoussis eliminated Pete Sampras in the first round and another American, Paul Goldstein, in the second. He thinks his mental approach is contributing to success on clay. Philippoussis, the 1998 U.S. Open runner-up, is trying to become the first Australian winner at Roland Garros since Rod Laver in 1969. "I have become really fit," he said. "If I need to stay out there for four hours I am willing to do that."
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