Grosjean overwhelmed by Philippoussis

Cash hails Philippoussis LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) -- Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash hailed the raw animal power of Mark Philippoussis on Friday after his fellow Australian steamed through to his first final at the All England Club. Cash, Wimbledon champion in 1987 and a former coach of Philippoussis, said on BBC television: "I've always said he's one of, if not the most, talented players I've ever seen on a tennis court. "When he can put it together, if he serves the way he does, we know he's got the great groundstrokes, how you are going to stop that? "He's got so much power, so much ability and so much strength. He's an animal out there. And he covers the court, he's a great athlete." Philippoussis' 11 aces against Grosjean took his week's tally to 164 in six matches. "He's been a serving machine this week," added Cash. "He's [also] got that big forehand cross court and once he hits it, it doesn't matter if you're there, waiting for it. He hits it so hard. It's like Pete Sampras' forehand cross court. "Grosjean was just plain and simply over-powered." Sunday's final, when he plays Swiss fourth seed Roger Federer, will be Philippoussis' second Grand Slam final appearance. The 26-year-old from Melbourne lost the 1998 U.S. Open final to compatriot Pat Rafter.

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) -- Australian Mark Philippoussis thundered into his first Wimbledon final with a 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-3 victory over 13th-seeded Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean on Friday.

Two years after being confined to a wheelchair by knee surgery, the unseeded 26-year-old overpowered his lackluster opponent in less than two hours on Centre Court.

An ecstatic Philippoussis flattened the hopes of Grosjean with a forehand volley on his second match point and held his arms aloft in victory before turning to acknowledge his father Nick in the players' box.

"I don't think Seb played his best tennis, I thought I took advantage of that," said Philippoussis. "I'm not really feeling much. Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet but I feeling pretty good.

"God it's weird. It feels like I was in a wheelchair yesterday, but then it feels like I've been away for six years."

Having served 153 aces on his way to the semis, Philippoussis had been expected to set alight an overcast Centre Court with his fierce deliveries from the beginning.

But knowing that it had taken him seven attempts to get to the final four of his favorite tournament, he took a cautious approach at the start.

The 1998 U.S. Open runner-up earned only one point on his opponent's serve before the 12th game, but two glorious winners and a Grosjean error handed Philippoussis his first two break chances in the match.

Grosjean, bidding to become the first Frenchman to reach the final since Cedric Pioline in 1997, saved both to take the set into a tiebreak.

After an early exchange of mini-breaks, Philippoussis moved in for the kill.

He forced Grosjean to hit a backhand wide and bagged it 7-3 after the Frenchman failed to control a dipping service return.

With the first set safely tucked away, Philippoussis hit cruise control and broke Grosjean in the first game of the second before claiming the set when the Frenchman sailed a forehand wide.

Grosjean, 25, finally earned his first break point in the seventh game of the third. But predictably Philippoussis unleashed an ace to save it.

With his morale and resolute crumbling fast, Grosjean gifted the Australian the break with a double fault for a 5-3 lead and effectively booked his flight home.

Philippoussis took his aces tally to 164 with 11 more on Friday. He's been chasing Croatian Goran Ivanisevic's Wimbledon record of 212 aces in the tournament set in 2001.

"Mark served big today and it was tough for me to return," said Grosjean. "I only had two break points ... so it was tough for me to stay in the match."

 

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