Mark Philippoussis
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Mark Anthony Philippoussis ( ; born 7 November 1976) is an Australian former professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player of Greek and Italian descent. Philippoussis' greatest achievements are winning two
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
titles with
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 1999 and
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, winning the deciding rubber in the final of each. He also reached the final of the 1998 US Open and the
2003 Wimbledon The 2003 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 117th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fr ...
singles tournaments. Philippoussis reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8. Philippoussis has had a minor career in modelling and starred in the American reality television dating show '' Age of Love''. He is nicknamed 'the Scud', after the Scud missile. He is also known in Australia as “The Pou”.


Biography


Early career

Philippoussis was born in Melbourne to a
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
father, Nikolaos ("Nick"), and an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
mother, Rossana; and was educated at
Maribyrnong College Maribyrnong College, also known as Maribyrnong Secondary College, and formerly known as Maribyrnong High School, is a government-funded secondary day school that specialises in sports, located in Maribyrnong in the inner western suburbs of M ...
and later at Wesley College. He is of the
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
faith. 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 The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
scholarship holder. He was briefly coached by former 1987 Wimbledon champion
Pat Cash Patrick Hart Cash (born 27 May 1965) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 4 in May 1988 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 6 in August 1988. Upon winning ...
, which ended in an acrimonious split in 2000. In 1994, he finished third in singles 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 Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...
in the 3rd round and in doubles with
Patrick Rafter Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He reached the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking on 26 July 1999. His career highlights include consecutive US Open ...
. 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 Albert Costa i Casals (; born 25 June 1975) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He is best remembered for winning the Men's Singles title at the French Open in 2002. Tennis career Costa began playing tennis at the age of five. He ...
. During the height of his career, Philippoussis was known as having one of the fastest serves in the game.


Rise to top 10

At the 1998 US Open U.S. Open, Philippoussis reached his first
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
final, losing to fellow Australian
Patrick Rafter Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He reached the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking on 26 July 1999. His career highlights include consecutive US Open ...
. In January 1999, Philippoussis and
Jelena Dokić Jelena Dokic ( sr, Јелена Докић, Jelena Dokić; ; born 12 April 1983) is an Australian tennis coach, commentator, writer, and former professional tennis player. Her highest ranking as a tennis player was world No. 4, in August 2002. ...
won the
Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...
for Australia, defeating Sweden's
Åsa Carlsson Åsa may refer to: * Åsa, Kungsbacka, Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland County, Sweden * Åsa, Ringerike, Ringerike municipality, Buskerud, Norway People with the given name * Åsa Domeij (born 1962), former politician for the Swedish Green Part ...
and
Jonas Björkman Jonas Lars Björkman (; born 23 March 1972) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 T ...
in the final tie. This was the first time that Australia won the Hopman Cup and the only time until Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova won in January 2016. 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 Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
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 Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...
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 The Indianapolis Tennis Championships was an annual men's tennis tournament played in Indianapolis as part of the ATP Tour. Since its inaugural playing in 1987, the tournament was held for one week in July up until its final playing in 2009. Ori ...
and lost his second-round match after receiving a bye in the first round. He did not play again until October in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, 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 No. 11. He reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ach ...
. He defeated No. 2 Sampras 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 Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he h ...
. 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 Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov ( rus, Евгений Александрович Кафельников, , jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ˈkafʲɪlʲnʲɪkəf, a=Ru-Yevgeny-Kafelnikov.ogg; born 18 February 1974) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis p ...
. Philippoussis finished 2002 in the top 100 (seventh time in eight years), despite not winning a title. He moved from
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
to the San Diego area in September 2002.


Davis Cup

Philippoussis has always claimed to be proud of representing his country in
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
, but personal differences with
John Newcombe John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He is one of the few men to have attained a world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. At the majors, he won seven singles titles, a fo ...
and
Tony Roche Anthony Dalton Roche Order of Australia, AO Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 May 1945) is an Australian former professional tennis player. A native of Tarcutta, Roche played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagg ...
interfered with his commitment early in his career. Despite several highly publicised feuds, Philippoussis played a large part in giving Australia their 27th Davis Cup triumph—second only to the United States with 31—but it was their first since 1986. In 1999 he defeated
Cédric Pioline Cédric Pioline (born 15 June 1969) is a French former professional tennis player who played on the professional tour from 1989 to 2002. He reached the men's singles final at the 1993 US Open and at Wimbledon in 1997. On both occasions, he was ...
, 6–3, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2, in Nice, France. Injuries plagued Philippoussis's availability for Davis Cup and was the cause of a public rift between team-mates
Patrick Rafter Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He reached the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking on 26 July 1999. His career highlights include consecutive US Open ...
and
Lleyton Hewitt Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...
. Rafter publicly accused Philippoussis of jerking the team around after he withdrew from a Davis Cup tie in late 2000. Philippoussis said Rafter was ill-informed and upset by the lack of support and understanding from his team-mates. Knee surgeries forced Philippoussis out of Davis Cup until February 2003. By then, Pat Rafter had retired, and John Fitzgerald and Wally Masur were the new Davis Cup captain and coach. Philippoussis sealed victory for Australia in the Melbourne Final against Spain. Philippoussis beat Spain's
Juan Carlos Ferrero Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he h ...
in a 7–5, 6–3, 1–6, 2–6, 6–0 battle. Philippoussis suffered a pectoral tear at the end of the second set, which caused him to lose the third and fourth sets. He regrouped in the fifth set and beat Ferrero 6–0.


2003: Comeback

After three knee operations, Philippoussis embarked on a protracted comeback. He made himself available regularly for Davis Cup, hired a new physical trainer, and took up
surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...
as his new recreation. He made the 2003 Wimbledon final, finally losing to
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
, 6–7(5), 2–6, 6–7(3). During a 2003 Wimbledon tennis match against
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ach ...
(6–3, 2–6, 6–7 (4–7), 6–3, 6–4), he set a new Australian tennis record of 46 aces served in a match, three aces short of the overall
ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...
record then held by Richard Krajicek. Philippoussis broke a two-year singles-title drought by winning the Shanghai Open in 2003. On 30 November 2003, he defeated
Juan Carlos Ferrero Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he h ...
of Spain to win the fourth match of the Davis Cup final in Melbourne, securing the title for Australia. At the end of 2003, Philippoussis received the ATP Comeback Player of the Year award. The honeymoon period with the Australian public, however, did not last. 2004 proved a disastrous year in terms of his tennis career and public profile. After shouldering most of the blame for losing Australia's Davis Cup tie with Sweden with an unexpected below-par performance, Philippoussis struggled through to the Wimbledon fourth round in June 2004. From Wimbledon in June until the end of the season in October, he failed to win a single ATP tennis match and finished with one of his lowest rankings since turning professional in 1994. In October 2004, a much-publicised affair with
Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem AM (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Goodrem signed to Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut album, '' Innocent Eyes'' (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive week ...
had soured and seriously damaged his standing, after newspapers alleged that he had dated
Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conra ...
while with Goodrem. In March 2005, he became engaged to actress and model Alexis Barbara. ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' reported the pair had split in July 2006, but Philippoussis denied this to Australian tabloid ''New Idea''; they did split some time before he began filming ''Age of Love''. He confirmed to Sydney's ''Daily Telegraph'' on 23 August 2006, that he "parted ways with" his father as his coach and rehired
Peter McNamara Peter McNamara (5 July 1955 – 20 July 2019) was an Australian tennis player and coach. McNamara won five singles titles and nineteen doubles titles in his career. A right-hander, McNamara reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 14 March ...
in an attempt to revive his career.


2006: Return

After some controversy over his wildcard selection after a disappointing 2006 Australian Open, Philippoussis made more headlines when he again earned entry into the 2006 Wimbledon. He was defeated in the second round. Leading into the
Campbell's Hall of Fame Championships The Infosys Hall of Fame Open is an international tennis tournament that has been held every year in July since 1976 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, the original location of the U.S. Open (tennis), U.S. National ...
as a wildcard, his record was a modest 6–7. He had a fantastic run in the tournament, getting to the final, where he defeated
Justin Gimelstob Justin Jeremy Gimelstob (born January 26, 1977) is a retired American tennis player. Gimelstob has been a resident of Morristown, New Jersey, and as of 2009 lived in Santa Monica, California. He was the top-ranked boy in his age group at the a ...
in straight sets to claim his first title in almost three years. Philippoussis, then ranked No. 114, lost to
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
as a wildcard entry in the first round of the 2006 US Open. The Australian Davis Cup team lost against Argentina in an unpredictable 5–0. On 22 September, Philippoussis was defeated by
David Nalbandian David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine retired professional tennis player who played on the ATP Tour from 2000 until his retirement in 2013. He reached the highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006. Nalban ...
4–6, 3–6, 3–6, in the first match of the series. Philippoussis played in a series of Challenger tournaments after the Davis Cup semifinals. Philippoussis won the Calabasas tournament, defeating
Amer Delic Amer may refer to: Places * Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain * Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state ** Am ...
, 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–4), 6–3, in the final.


2007

Philippoussis beat Russian
Dmitry Tursunov Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a retired Russian tennis player and current tennis coach. At age 12 he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career-high singl ...
, 6–4, 7–6, at the 2007 Hopman Cup. However, during his second match against
Jérôme Haehnel Jérôme Haehnel (born 14 July 1980) is a retired French tennis player who is best known for defeating Andre Agassi in the first round of the French Open in 2004. Haehnel's career-high singles ranking is World No. 78, which he reached in Februar ...
, he was forced to retire after hyperextending his knee. An
MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...
showed that he had torn cartilage in his knee, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.


2008

Philippoussis acquired a protected ranking of No. 119 and was allowed to use that ranking for entry into eight tournaments.
Tennis Australia Tennis Australia Limited is the governing body for Tennis in Australia. It is owned by Australian states and territories. The association organises national and international Tennis tournaments including the Australian Open, the Australian Open S ...
, not being happy with his lack of matchplay and unwillingness to play the Australian Open
wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...
playoff, told him that he would not be given any special treatment and would have to earn his wildcard. This forced him to use one of his protected ranking tournament entries. In his first match of the Australian Open Wildcard playoff, he was drawn against reigning Australian Open juniors champion
Brydan Klein Brydan Klein (born 31 December 1989) is an Australian-born British professional tennis player. As a junior, Klein won the 2007 Australian Open and reached a career-high top five in the ITF junior rankings. However, Klein has struggled to make ...
and had a fiery contest. After a remark from Klein, Philippoussis was quoted as saying, "You say that to me again and you're in trouble; you're not playing juniors any more." He came out the victor in straight sets, 6–3, 7–5, and thus began his comeback in good form. Philippoussis then lost his second match to
Sam Groth Samuel Groth OLY, Member of Parliament#Australia, MP (born 19 October 1987) is an Australian politician and a former professional tennis player. Sitting as a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Groth represents the Liberal Party of Aus ...
, 4–6, 3–6, but due to other players' injuries, he advanced to the quarterfinals, where he was to play
Rameez Junaid Rameez Junaid (born 25 May 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player of Pakistani descent. Junaid is based in Melbourne, Victoria, and is currently ranked in the top 100 in doubles. His doubles partners have included Philipp Marx, Ad ...
. However, due to another knee injury requiring surgery, Philippoussis was unable to play.


2010

Philippousis appeared in a pro tour match for the first time since November 2006, when he lost to fifth seed
Michael Yani Michael Yani (born December 31, 1980) is a former American tennis player. He turned professional in 2003. Yani is 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) and 75 kg (165 lb). He resides in Honolulu, Hawaii. After attending on a tennis scholarshi ...
, 4–6, 4–6, in the first round of the
Challenger of Dallas The RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas (formerly known as Challenger of Dallas) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP Challenger Tour. It is held annually at the T Bar M Racquet Club in D ...
. Philippousis also competed in some of the events on the Champions Series, winning two tournaments and topping the rankings for 2010.


2012

Philippoussis has played for the
Philadelphia Freedoms The Philadelphia Freedoms is a tennis team currently competing in World TeamTennis. Overview The team traces its origins to WTT's inaugural season, in 1974. The original team starred tennis legend and social pioneer Billie Jean King, who h ...
of
World Team Tennis World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...
this summer. The Freedoms used the No. 1 overall pick to draft Philippoussis, who previously played for the team in 2002. He was the team's marquee player on 25 July 2012 when they faced the
Boston Lobsters The Boston Lobsters were a World TeamTennis team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Lobsters played home matches at the Walter Brown Arena, Boston University, in Boston, MA. The most recent Boston Lobsters were a reincarnation of two pr ...
and travelled with the team to their matches against the
Sacramento Capitals The Sacramento Capitals were a team in World TeamTennis that competed from 1988 through 2013. The Capitals won six championships, including four straight from 1997 to 2000. The other titles came in 2002 and 2007. For the 2012 World TeamTennis ...
and
Orange County Breakers The Orange County Breakers are a World TeamTennis (WTT) franchise founded in 2003, owned by Laguna Beach businessman Eric Davidson. The Breakers won the WTT Championship in 2004, 2017 and 2021. In 2014, the franchise moved to Greater Austin, Texas ...
.


2015: Return to ATP World Tour

Philippoussis contested his first match on the
ATP World Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...
in nine years since winning the 2006 Newport title, after receiving a wild card into the qualifying rounds of the 2015 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at 38 years of age. He lost to
Eric Quigley Eric Quigley (born January 30, 1989) is an American professional tennis player. High school career Quigley was a four-time Kentucky High School Athletic Association tennis champion. He attended South Oldham High School. College career Quigley ...
6–7(1), 6–7(4). Philippoussis also played doubles in the tournament with
Ryan Harrison Ryan Harrison (born May 7, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. Harrison has won one career ATP title in singles at the 2017 Memphis Open to go along with four in doubles, including the 2017 French Open. Before turning 16, Harriso ...
, winning the first round to make it to the quarter-finals before losing to the second seeds
Austin Krajicek Austin Krajicek (born June 16, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP ranking in doubles of World No. 9 achieved on 7 November 2022 and in singles of World No. 94 achieved on October 26, 2015. He is a distant co ...
and
Rajeev Ram Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. Ram is a five-time major champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open, and the 2022 US Open in men's d ...
. Afterwards, Philippousis said: "It was just about playing one event. There’s no talk about a comeback. Down the line if I see something, maybe close to California, I might do that. It’s one event and that’s it."


2017

Philippoussis won the 2017 RPIA Championships in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, defeating
Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...
in the finals.


Equipment

In early 2000s, Philippoussis wore apparel manufactured by
Fila Fila Holdings Corp. is a sportswear brand of shoes and apparel. The company was founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Coggiola, near Biella, Piedmont, Italy. In 2003, it was sold to United States-based Sports Brand International. Sub ...
on court, and used Dunlop 200G racquet.


Television

In 2020, Philippoussis competed as the 'Echidna' in the second season of ''
The Masked Singer Australia ''The Masked Singer Australia'' is an Australian reality television Reality competition, singing competition show hosted that premiered on Network Ten, Network 10 on 23 September 2019. Hosted by Osher Günsberg, the show is based on the intern ...
'' and was the first contestant eliminated, placing 12th overall.


Age of Love

Philippoussis starred as the bachelor in the reality television dating show ''Age of Love'' on the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
television network, in June 2007. The show centred around women in or near their 40s and women in their 20s competing for his affection. At first Philippoussis, unaware of the special format of the show, was shocked at the ages of the "
cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...
" as the older women were called. He was shocked again after learning he would also be dating younger women ("kittens"). The final dates occurred in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia, including a date at Moonlit Sanctuary. In the end, Philippoussis chose Amanda Salinas (the 25-year-old Nashville Predators dancer) because it "wouldn't work out" with Jen, the 48-year-old assistant to
Jerry Buss Gerald Hatten Buss (January 27, 1933 – February 18, 2013) was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning 10 l ...
.


Personal life

In 2004, he began a nine-month relationship with Australian singer
Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem AM (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Goodrem signed to Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut album, '' Innocent Eyes'' (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive week ...
. Her "comeback" single, " Out of the Blue", was written about his support during her cancer battle. The couple's relationship ended in controversy when newspapers reported Philippoussis had been unfaithful. In May 2009, Philippoussis declared that all his money was gone and that he would lose his home of residence. In a writ lodged with the Supreme Court on 15 May 2009, it was 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. Philippoussis took out a mortgage in February 2008. He 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. Later in 2009, while in the US attempting to restart his tennis career, he dated and was engaged to actress
Jennifer Esposito Jennifer Esposito is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the feature films '' Summer of Sam'' (1999), ''Don't Say a Word'' (2001), ''Welcome to Collinwood'' (2002), as well as ''Crash'' and ''Taxi'' (both 2004). She has also appe ...
but the engagement ended a year later. Philippoussis' former stepmother is Yan Cui. He married
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
-born model Silvana Lovin in September 2013. Lovin gave birth to their first child, a boy, in 2014, and had their second child, a girl, in 2018.


Major finals


Grand Slam finals


Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)


Masters Series finals


Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)


Career finals


Singles: 22 (11 titles, 11 runner-ups)


Doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)


Team competition: 3 (3 titles)


Performance timeline


Singles

1This event was held in Stockholm through 1994, Essen in 1995, and Stuttgart from 1996 through 2001.


Top 10 wins


References


Article - CNNArticle - The Australian


External links

* * * *
AussieProfiles.com: Mark Philippoussis




{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippoussis, Mark 1976 births Australian people of Greek descent Australian people of Italian descent Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Australian male tennis players Australian Roman Catholics Australian Open (tennis) junior champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles Olympic tennis players of Australia Participants in American reality television series Tennis players from Melbourne Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) People from Williamstown, Victoria Hopman Cup competitors Wimbledon junior champions Australian Institute of Sport tennis players Living people