Leaner and meaner

Philippoussis rolls to win, sets up match with Martin

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) -- Mark Philippoussis has lost 22 pounds but appears to be missing none of his power after beating fifth seed Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands at the Australian hardcourt tennis championships Thursday.

Philippoussis breezed through the first set 6-0, then took the second 6-3 in only slightly less dominant style, winning eight of the last nine points to close out the match at Memorial Drive.

Philippoussis hit 12 aces in his eight service games, including four in the final game, and looked just as impressive from both the baseline and the net as he took less than an hour to set up a quarterfinal match Friday against American Todd Martin.

Ranked 106th after an enforced absence for knee surgery, Philippoussis said he felt confident and well-prepared for the rest of the Australian season after working with fitness coach Brett Stephens to strengthen his legs and lose weight.

"I put in the work before I got here and that's the difference, when you have worked hard and when you have put in the hours, you know you're going to play well," he said.

Philippoussis said he expected a different match against Martin.

"Any short balls, Todd is going to come in. He's going to come in on most of his serves and it's going to be an extremely tough match, but that's what I want."

Martin, who upset Pete Sampras in the first round, had a comfortable 7-5, 6-4 second-round victory Thursday over French 113th-ranked lefthander Michael Llodra.

Martin said Philippoussis, who has won two of their previous three matches, will force him to play more defensively than against almost any other opponent.

"Against Mark I pretty much do what everybody else does, try to get out of the way of his serve and take it from there," Martin said.

"I return well, I think, but obviously Mark serves it as well as anyone, that will be the most obvious challenge for me."

Britain's top two players, top seed Tim Henman and sixth seed Greg Rusedski, will meet in another quarterfinal on Friday.

Sweden's third seed Thomas Enqvist will meet Spain's Alberto Martin and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic will play Moroccan Hicham Arazi. Arazi beat Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 in a second-round match Thursday night.

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