Mark Philippoussis has been playing some good tennis lately and seems more focused and has got a better attitude to tennis and a new coach. Do you guys think he can come back and be competitive with the top players again? He has been impressive at Newport and was good at Queens.
I don't think he'll ever threaten the very top players but I do believe he has the game to sit comfortably inside the top 100 and, perhaps, the top 50 if he stays healthy and chooses his tournaments carefully. Unlike most of the guys outside the top 100 he is capable of winning matches at the biggest events (dont know if he can go 5 sets though) and that means he can accumulate points quickly. After Newport he should move to about 150 in the rankings and then has only 55 points to defend for the rest of the year plus nothing after October. Given a reasonable run with fitness and form he could add another 100 to 150 points by the end of the year and that would have him sitting somewhere between 100-130. He'll have very little to defend up until Wimbledon of next year so, who knows?
tennis_eel, Mark has had at least one major knee operation. He will never physically be able to play hard week in week out and challenge for the top ranking positions.
Yes but he is getting strength back into that knee and he has so much talent with that big serve and all I think he can come back. He just has to overcome all his injuries and start believing he can compete with the top players. How he has spoken in the media lately has been encouraging, he believes he can return to the top 100 by the end of the year and his attitude of taking it one match at a time is good.
Yay, I picked Mark for my fantasy team. I knew he would do farily well in this tournament. After watching his match agains "The Beast" in this years Wimby, I knew he still had some good tennis left in him. Go MARK!!!
I hope he can get back in the top 50 so he can play all the best tournaments which of course if possible as long as he stays fit. He can abng down aces all day and is a big hitter off both wings.
Well he seems to be having a great tournament at the Campell´s Hall of Fame. It may be too late for him to be consistantly back up there with the elite players, he kind of wasted that period of his life when he really could have made an impact and be remembered. Two slam finals isn't bad though, better than Henman,
Watched him play today....he's certainly beefed up. Can't tell if it's just his natural build or if he's a few pounds above his fighting weight....
Good point, I'm wondering which I'd prefer... #8, +2 slam finals, or #4, no slam finals..... hmmmm, I'd probably go for Marks results. If he can pull off a win at Cambell's this weekend then they'd both have 11 titles.
I am rooting for Gimmel. Guy never won anything in his entire life, and he worked really, really hard for it.
yeah im pullin for gimmelstob too. i donno, i think philippousis sorta wasted some of his talent, i donno i got the feeling that i should at least question his work ethic back in the day when he was making major finals and stuff. he also seems to be too big, i donno guys like marat are tall too but more lanky and skinny which allows for (IMO) better movement. I donno it seems like the scud is either slightly over weight (which he doens't look like) or hes a bit too built for his own good.
Mark has been training up and looks fitter than before. However, he still wilts too quickly and therefore relies on sheer power to finish off the points as soon as possible. I think he is also having a great time enjoying his money and re-investing it for much better returns. So, he probably may not be back as a serious contender anytime soon.
telecast does any here live in australia and have foxtel digital if so what channel will the final be on
Won't be telecast live, but you can catch the replay at the following times: Monday- 2:00am Fox Sports 1 Tuesday- 8:00am Fox Sports 2 Thursday- 4:00am Fox Sports 2
I think the biggest thing he ever did in his career was win an important match against Spain in the Davis Cup finals. If I remember, he was down against Ferrero and came back big to win. I think it may have won the Cup for Australia a couple years ago or sparked them on to the win. I remember watching it on the Tennis Channel.
Didn't Justin do the commentary for that Davis Cup tie on the Tennis Channel? Mark has been working on his fitness for the last few months, so he is stronger (and he looked pretty fit in San Jose in February), but he's still injury prone. Justin deals with his back problem every day of his life and works his ass off to stay fit. He's stronger now than he has ever been and his dedication to training is the main reason he can even still be on court these days (he's got a lot of miles on that 29 year old frame of his). Pretty sure my choice in this match is clear, but whatever ever happens I think it will be fun to watch, even if the points are kind of short. {And Justin's in his first final ever, yay!}
Phillipoussis clinched the tie for us against Spain in 2003 (beating Ferrero in 5 sets despite having a damaged shoulder) and effectively won us the cup in against France (in France, which makes it a far bigger accomplishment) by winning both of his singles, including the deciding match. Apart from that, there's his two runner-up efforts in the majors. No, it isn't the glittering career that most predicted for him but it's still better than most. Of course you can't play 'what if' but I do sometimes wonder what would have happened if he hadn't damaged his knee in the 99 Wimbledon quater-final against Sampras. He'd already won the first set and was playing right over the top of Pete. Since then he's spent more time off the court than on.
He can still make it back to the top 20, just has to stay dedicated and avoid injury. Despite injury, it is not like he is a grinder, he has a big serve and imposes his game with short points. If any style can make a comeback late in life it is that.
And the Scud brings home the win. I wish i could see this match. I wonder indeed could the Scud be back? One thing is for sure, he helped me with this win because I had him for my fantasy team.
Let me start by saying I like Mark Philippoussis both as a player, and off the court as a person. I have met him several times and followed his career with interest. I still remember when he was an up and comer and marveling at his athletic skills for such a big guy. I was also surprised at his lack of coaching and fundamentals, especially in developing a point. His mentality was hit MUCH harder than your opponent and you will win. Needless to say he improved over the years with proper coaching, but he never seemed to have the dedication needed to reach and stay at the top level. Like all young men, he loved parting and spending times with the ladies, but to be a top pro and have longevity, you must put in more hard work than play. Now that he has been slowed due to injury, and considering his previous attitude towards training(like his surfing kick) and hard work, his prospects for a sustained resurgence is unlikely. However, if he were to dedicate himself (like Agassi did) to total fitness, and a single minded focus of tennis, he might become very dangerous again, especially on faster surfaces. Like I said, he is a great person, and I wish him nothing but the best. I can only hope that he wants it more than his fans do, otherwise he wont be around much longer.
I was reading somehwere that he now requires a painful series of synthetic cartilage injections every six months into his left knee to compensate for the 45 per cent of the natural cartilage that is no longer there.
It's nice to see him playing better again. I honestly don't think he'll bother the top 10 at all. It's not that he can't play good, I just think he's had so many operations on the knee and other areas, that I don't think he'll be able to return to his best form. After a while the operations take their toll, and eventually limit how good the form and executions of plays can be.
I really do like Mark as a player and a person too, and he has no airs about himself. However, after sustaining those kinds of injuries, I can feel his pain and the worst is the threat of permanent disability if the injuries became worse and irrepairable. After his knee surgery, he was confined to a wheelchair for 2 months, and that must have been an absolute misery for someone who was extremely active and pounding the courts daily not too long before that ... But that is a folly of youth. When we're younger, we always think that we're invincible and charge with wild abandon. The payback comes from the mid 30s onwards ... It is a situation I'm currently facing albeit with no regrets.
