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A real pain Stiff neck keeps Philippoussis from playing Colonial final
Posted: Saturday January 15, 2000 03:59 PM
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Top-ranked Andre Agassi won the Colonial Classic by default when Mark Philippoussis withdrew from the final, leaving Pete Sampras to provide the main entertainment. Sampras quickly won 6-3, 6-1 Saturday against 20th-ranked Vincent Spadea, a last-minute replacement for Thomas Enqvist in what was to have been the tournament's third-place match. Two days before the Australian Open, in which he is among the favorites, Philippoussis woke up with a stiff neck and was advised by his chiropractor not to play in the Colonial final, "bearing in mind what he has got in front of him next week," tournament director Colin Stubs said. Enqvist already had decided to rest his sore serving shoulder, and Spadea had been enlisted to replace him. Sampras said he agreed to play Agassi to provide a final-day marquee match for the 5,500 spectators at Kooyong Stadium, but "unfortunately it didn't happen." Instead organizers proceeded with the scheduled Sampras-Spadea match. Stubs said, "Andre expected to play Mark Philippoussis today and I felt it was inappropriate for me to ask him to do something other than that, so I released him from his commitment to the final." Agassi's name still will go on the permanent trophy, but -- after rain delays -- the presentation ceremony was canceled. The withdrawal caused "a lot of aggravation with sponsors, with television, with public, box holders -- it's just a nightmare," Stubs said. Sampras earlier had met two big serve-and-volley players, beating Richard Krajicek and losing 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) to Philippoussis in a semifinal Friday. Philippoussis served 15 aces against Sampras and allowed only six points on his serve. "With his serving capability, he's going to be very tough to break" on the faster courts for this year's open, Sampras said. Against Spadea, "it was nice to get a little more of a hit up, and I played pretty well and I liked my form," he added. Set back by a back injury last year, Sampras fell to No. 3 after finishing No. 1 for six consecutive years. Sampras still had a 4-1 record last year against Agassi, the man who replaced him as No. 1. One of those victories was in the Wimbledon final. Agassi won the French and U.S. Opens on his way to the top from a ranking as low as 141 in 1997. Philippoussis, seeking to become the first Australian champion of the open since Mark Edmondson in 1976, is scheduled to play a qualifier in the first round. He is in the same section of the draw as Agassi, and could meet him in the fourth round. Agassi starts against Argentina's Mariano Puerta, Sampras meets big-serving Australian Wayne Arthurs, and 1999 runner-up Enqvist plays Australian Richard Fromberg on Monday.
For a final match on the Colonial Classic program, Stubs enlisted Fromberg and Morocco's Karim Alami, but rain halted play with Fromberg leading 6-5 on serve in the first set. After more than an hour's delay, the match was called off.
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