Mark Philippoussis
Full name: Mark Anthony Philippoussis
Nickname: The Scud
Nickname: The Scud
| Born | November 07, 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
|---|---|
| Height | 6'5" (196 cm) |
| Weight | 226 lbs (103 kg) |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Coach | Nick Philippoussis |
| Bio | Philippoussis was born in Melbourne to a Greek father and an Italian mother and was educated at Maribyrnong College and later at Wesley College. Coached by his father, Nick, the right-hander has played tennis since he was six years of age. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. He was briefly coached by former 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, which ended in an acrimonious split in 2000. In 1994, he finished third in single ranking for juniors. Philippoussis also finished as junior doubles champion with Ben Ellwood in Australia, Wimbledon, and Italy. He turned professional in 1994. In 1995, at the age of 19, he was the youngest player in the year-end top 50. In 1996, he reached the 4th round of the Australian Open upsetting Pete Sampras in the 3rd round and in doubles with Patrick Rafter. On 25 May 1997, he recorded a personal best 229.0 km/h (142.3 mph) serve in a game he lost to Albert Costa. During the height of his career, Mark was known as having one of the fastest serves in the game. At the 1998 U.S. Open, Philippoussis reached his first Grand Slam final, losing to fellow Australian Patrick Rafter. In January 1999, Philippoussis and Jelena Dokić won the Hopman Cup for Australia, defeating Sweden's Åsa Carlsson and Jonas Björkman in the final tie. This remains the only time that Australia won the Hopman Cup. On 29 March 1999, Philippoussis entered the top 10 for the first time and stayed there for 10 weeks. He advanced to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 1999 for the second straight year, where he retired in the second set against Sampras after having won the first set. During that match, Philippoussis suffered a moderate cartilage tear in his left knee and underwent arthroscopic surgery four days later. Sampras later remarked that he "dodged a bullet out there". Philippoussis returned to professional tennis seven weeks later at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships and lost his second round match after receiving a bye in the first round. He did not play again until October in Singapore, where he lost in the second round. He finished 1999 at No. 19. 2000 was the fourth consecutive year in which Philippoussis finished in the top 20, at World No. 11. He reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Andre Agassi. He defeated Sampras, then the World No. 2, 8–6 in the fifth set at the French Open in a first-round match, but lost in the fourth round to Juan Carlos Ferrero. For the third consecutive year, he made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, losing again to Agassi. He appeared in his second Olympic Games in Sydney, losing in the third round to eventual gold medalist Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Philippoussis finished 2002 in the top 100 (seventh time in eight years), despite not winning a title. He moved from Miami to the San Diego area in September 2002. In May 2009 Philippoussis declared that all his money was gone and that he will lose his home of residence. In a writ lodged with the Supreme Court on 15 May 2009, it is alleged Philippoussis took out a loan through his company Mergis Pty Ltd which he personally guaranteed. The writ claims Mergis – of which Philippoussis is the sole director, secretary and shareholder – defaulted less than a year later. The lender is seeking $1,313,351.96, plus interest, costs and possession of the house, or is threatening to go to trial. The Perpetual Trustee Company Ltd is listed in court documents as the plaintiff, but a company spokesman said her firm had provided funds to another company which was the one foreclosing. The other company is not detailed on the writ, but Philippoussis said it was Pepper Home Loans – a company that provides loans through mortgage brokers. Once ranked as the eighth best male player in the world, Philippoussis took out a mortgage in February, 2008. Philippoussis said he was three months behind, adding that each monthly payment was more than $10,000. "I haven't played tennis since 2006, and tennis is one of those sports where if you don't play, you don't get paid", he said. He was engaged to actress Jennifer Esposito and married to Romanian-born model Silvana Lovin in September 2013. Lovin gave birth to their first child, Nicholas, in 2014. |
| Tournament | AO | RG | W | US | Win-Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | R128 | A | A | A | 0-1 |
| 1995 | R128 | A | A | R32 | 2-2 |
| 1996 | R16 | R64 | R64 | R16 | 8-4 |
| 1997 | A | R16 | R128 | R32 | 5-3 |
| 1998 | R64 | R64 | QF | RU | 12-4 |
| 1999 | R16 | R128 | QF | A | 7-3 |
| 2000 | R16 | R16 | QF | R64 | 11-4 |
| 2001 | A | A | A | A | 0-0 |
| 2002 | R64 | R64 | R16 | R128 | 5-4 |
| 2003 | R32 | R64 | RU | R32 | 11-4 |
| 2004 | R16 | R128 | R16 | R128 | 6-4 |
| 2005 | A | A | R64 | R128 | 1-2 |
| 2006 | R128 | A | R64 | R128 | 1-3 |
| Win-Loss | 16-10 | 10-8 | 27-10 | 16-10 | 69-38 |