last updated 12/29/00
December 29, 2000: Before it even began, the summer tennis season is over for Philippoussis. During practice Mark felt more pain in his knee and an MRI determined that he had a slight tear in the lateral meniscus of his left knee. This is the same injury that has plaqued him since 1999 Wimbledon. On the 28th he underwent surgery in Melbourne and the prognosis is a good one. He will miss both the Hopman Cup and Australian Open, but plans his first tournament back to be a defense of his SyBase title. Read more about it in the many articles now linked.
December 19, 2000: The off season can be a dangerous thing - too much time off gives players some odd notions. Take Mark, who showed up at a recent celebrity event sporting a new look - namely bleached blond hair! Take a look at this picture from the Herald Sun. [and I won't even comment on the Hawian shirt!] (thanks to Elisa for spotting the pic!) Also a few Davis Cup articles added.
November 27, 2000: A number of new articles and interviews added, as well as a team pictures from the Olympics.
November 22, 2000: Mark has withdrawn from the Stockholm Open with acute inflammation in his left knee.
November 20, 2000: In a five-set monster game that last 3 hours 28 minutes and was decided by a tie-breaker, Mark lost to Safin 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (8-10). Several new photos and articles added.
November 18, 2000: It's been an amazing past two rounds for Mark in Paris. In the Quarterfinals he fought a tough two hour battle to defeat Prinosil 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) and then followed that up with a two set defeat of Kuerten 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (13-11). Next up is the World No. 1, Marat Safin for the title. A number of great new photos and articles added.
November 17, 2000: In a little bit of Olympic revenge, mark blasted through Kafelnikov 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters. He next faces Prinosil. Several new articles added.
November 16, 2000: With somewhat of a struggle Mark is through to the third round of the Paris Indoors. He defeated Hrbaty 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-1). But in what could turn out to be another PR disaster, Philippoussis announced that he will not play Davis Cup in December, even if Hewitt is unable to play.
November 10, 2000: Mark is out of Lyon with a loss to Arazi 3-6, 6-3, 5-7. Up a break in the third, he eventually lost with a double fault on match point. Two articles added.
November 9, 2000 The Lyon Grand Prix is underway and Mark, seeded 6th, has advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 7-6 (12-10), 6-3 defeat of Ferreira.
November 3, 2000: Well i was a quick trip for Mark through the Stutgart Open as he retired against Ferriera 0-1 in the second round. It seems he slept poorly on the hotel pillows and woke with a stiff neck. It made him unable to move his head to see the ball. Thankfully it's nothing a little proper rest won't cure.
October 14, 2000: I take one trip out of town and Mark is both in and out of the Japan Open before I get back. In summary: Round One - bye; Round Two - win over Arthurs 6-2, 7-5; Round 3 - win over Yong-il Yoon 7-6 (9-7), 6-4; Quarterfinals - loss to Schalken 3-6, 2-6. Oddly though only a few articles have popped up and no pictures.
October 8, 2000: With a breakdown of his serve in the third set, Mark lost the Salem Open final to Kiefer. Three double faults, a smahed racket and Kiefer broke for an advantage in the third and that sealed the match. But this has been an excellent bounce-back for Mark considering his hard court season, so lets hope it continues!
October 7, 2000: It was a record breaking day for Mark as he defeated Rafter for the first time 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. He will face Kiefer in the finals. New coach McNamara seems to be working out as Mark won four matches in a row - his first since Wimbledon. Several articles and photos added.
October 6, 2000: It took just two sets for Mark to dispatch Bruguera 6-2, 6-3 in the quartfinals of the Salem Open. He will next face countryman Pat Rafter in the semis. Also this update, the photo gallery was broken down into several pages like the articles.
October 5, 2000: It took three sets, but Mark advanced past Woodruff 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-3 to reach the third round in Hong Kong. Also it seems that once again Mark has made a coaching change. Out are Gavin Hopper and Mike DePalmer and returning is Peter McNamara who has coached Mark in the past and worked with him as a junior.
October 4, 2000: The Salem Open in Hong Kong is underway and Mark is through to the second round. It took two tie-breaks, but Mark beat Byron Black 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) to advance.
September 24, 2000: The bid for an Olympic medal is over for Philippoussis with a 3rd round loss to Kafelnikov 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. A few articles and photos added.
September 21, 2000: Breaking his recent trend, Mark advanced past the second round defeating Pless 6-4, 6-4. While he did suffer some knee pangs in the second set, in his post match interview he said the day off should help losen it back up. Philippoussis now carries Australia's medal hopes as both Hewitt and Rafter have been eliminated.
September 19, 2000: The Olympics are underway and Mark passes his first round test defeating Johansson 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Mark has also been attending other events, so keep your eyes on the Aussie team crowds! Several articles and photos added.
September 3, 2000: In yet another lackluster outing, Mark was sent packing from the US Open in the second round by Gambill 4-6, 4-6, 4-6. In the newest SportsToday article Mark says his recent slump is a result of his Davis Cup battles which have affected his concentration. Here's hoping his spirits and form is lifted for the Sydney Olympics.
August 31, 2000: A few photos and articles from round one of the US Open. Most interesting are an article and some quotes by Mark on the laser eye surgery he had last year.
August 30, 2000: Though Mark's win over Portas 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, may on the surface seem that he's conquering his recent first round demons, the match stats aren't that encouraging. In the hour and 42 minutes needed to dispatch Portas, his first serve percentage was a lowly 45% and while he did manage to fire off 14 aces, he offset them with 10 double faults and 34 unforced errors! The one good stat is that when he got the first serve in, he won 86% of the points. Mark needs to get his game together if he plans to make it much farther in this draw.
August 23, 2000: The draw is out for the 2000 US Open is just out and it's a bit of a crap-shoot for Mark, seeded 15th, this year. While the powerhouse duo of Sampras and Agassi are in the other half, lurking unseeded is Rafter whom Mrk could meet in the 3rd round! Other men lurking in his quarter include Kuerten, Corretja, Martin, Chang and Rusedski.
August 17, 2000: In what is becoming a disturbing pattern, Philippoussis lost to another player ranked below the top 40. Brazil's Sa destroyed Philippoussis big serve, breaking him four times in the first set. Trying to get back into the game, Philippoussis went for riskier shots, a strategy that has worked for him nearly as often as it has failed. Fourteen aces couldn't help him and he exited the tournament 1-6, 6-7 (10-12). Hopefully Mark can get his game together for the upcoming US Open.
August 11, 2000: Giant-killer Vicente took advantage a a few mistakes by Philippoussi to put another notch in his belt and Mark went home 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-7 (4-7). New articles, photos and interviews added.
August 10, 2000: Last night's second round match against Rios wasn't as easy as the one against DiPasquale, but Mark made it through 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). A few articles and photos added.
August 8, 2000: Shaking off those recent first round demons, Mark sailed past DiPasquale last night 6-4, 6-2. Also last week he released a statement about Davis Cup that's covered in several of the articles.
August 2, 2000: Well the second hard-court event of the season is already over for Mark. He took a 4-6, 6-7 (6-8) loss to Sargsian at the Toronto Masters Series. Newest addition is the Mark Philippoussis Webring!
July 28, 2000: Being the top seed doesn't seem to work to Philippoussis' advantage as he was sent home from the Mercedes-Benz Cup 6-3, 6-7 (5-7, 6-7 (3-7) by Justin Gimselstob. Also it seems on the 25th mark was part of a charity doubles match where he partnered with comedian Dennis Miller to defeat Michael Chang and actor Dustin Hoffman. Articles and photos from the tournament - including some from a shirtless practice session added.
July 27, 2000: Mark has passed through the first round of the Mercedes-Benz Cup by defeating Humphries 7-5, 7-6 (7-2). The only US match report I've found was this two line blurb buried in an article on Rios default: "He's got nothing to lose, so he's going to go out there swinging. I wasn't that comfortable with my serve,'' said Philippoussis, who had 11 aces and connected on 63 percent of his first serves. The event has a website at http://www.mercedes-benzcup.com/ but so far contains no mentions of Mark.
July 25, 2000: With Andre Agassi pulling out of the Mercedes-benz Cup in Los Angeles, Mark is now the top seed in the tournament. On the 23rd the tennis show TopSpin did a five minute segment on Mark's hoby of WakeBoarding. Image captures from the show can be seen in the Photo Gallery. The shirtless images also show Mark's bigger tattoo. And thanks to fellow Mark fan Amanda, new links to images from the Hopman Cup.
July 18, 2000: A few new articles added. I highly recommend "Sharing the pain with our Scud" from the 16th - truthful but funny. Also it seems that Mark has expanded his tattoo at some point in the last few months. A recent picture (unfortunately not on the web) shows that there are now something like the sun's rays or a lions mane around the profile of Alexander
July 14, 2000: Lots of updates today! First there are new articles on the Davis Cup fiasco, including some with statements from Mark. Also lots of new articles and photos added - some going back to July of 99! The articles page was also broken down by year so that it's a little less cumbersome to view.
July 12, 2000: I wish this could be a more cheerful update, but unfortunately it's not. Links added to six new articles on the Davis Cup controversy. From the sounds of it, this one action by Mark may have wiped out the past year's hard work to make peace with the Australian press.
July 10, 2000: In somewhat of another PR disaster, Mark has pulled out of the upcoming Davis Cup competition siting tiredness and a sore knee. This move has caused Rafter to be rather angry at the Scud and to tell him to decide once and for all whether he's interested in Davis Cup or not so that they can stop asking him. Two new articles cover this latest news.
July 7, 2000: Hooray for us! In the midst of Mark's great run at Wimbledon, this website broke all previous records for number of hits in a single day by a wide margin with 849 on July 5th! This update includes interviews from Wimbledon as well as some Australian and British Wimbledon articles.
July 5, 2000: Unfortunately for Mark, Wimbledon is over with a loss to Agassi 6-7 (4-7), 3-6, 4-6. Against the best returner in teh game, Mark just couldn't hold on. Judging by reports it seems that he was just a little slower than usual, no doubt because of the previous two five set matches. But with some more time with dePalmer, the US Open is looking like the perfect place for a breakthrough Grand Slam win. Be sure to check out the Wimbledon website as there are a number of good video post match intervviews.
July 3, 2000: In another 5 set match (though not quite as long as the previous, it still lasted more than 3 hours) Mark sent Britain's Tim Henman home 6-1, 5-7, 6-7 (9-11), 6-3, 6-4. Though the match was long, Mark was still hustling during the fifth set and showing some excellent stamina. Next up is Agassi. Additionally today Newcombe names Mark as part of the Davis Cup squad along with Rafter, Hewitt and Woodforde.
July 1, 2000 pm: Mark's match deserved a second update for the day. Turns out the match was five hours five minutes long and was only seven minutes short of the WImbledon record for longest match! They did break the record for the longest set though - the fifth set was a monster two hours and fifteen minutes - that's longer than many matches! Mark hit a whopping 44 aces, 20 in the last set alone! Several articles and photographs from the match linkes
July 1, 2000: Mark should be thanking Becker for insisting on more workouts as he needed the longer endurance to make it to the fourth round. His match against Schalken lasted more than 3 hours and took five monster sets, finally ending 20-18 in the fifth! The match score was -6, 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-4), 20-18. Added to the challenge was that Philippoussis was serving second in the fifth set so there was added pressure to hold the serve. Mark's 4th round will be England's own Tim Henman.
June 29, 2000: In a relatively trouble free match against diPasquale, Mark is through to the third round with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3, 6-0 win.
June 27, 2000: Wimbledon is official underway and Mark is through to the second round with a four set win against qualifier Melzer, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-4. Next up is Di Pasquale.
June 22, 2000: A dozen articles and photos added to their respective pages, including another excellent article where Mark talks about his work with Becker.
June 20, 2000: The Wimbledon seeds have been announced and because he's considered a grass court player, Mark has gotten the number 10 seed (seven spots up from his current ranking). Mark could face two-time semi-finalist Tim Henman in the fourth round for the right to play Andre Agassi.
June 15, 2000: Just a three article update today, but I highly recommend everyone read the top article entitled "Big Boris has Scud Sweating for Glory" - the normally taciturn Mark spoke quite a bit about his new arrangement with Becker and his desire to work harder.
June 14, 2000: Ivanisevic sent Philippoussis packing today at Queens 3-6, 3-6. While the Croatians ranking may have dropped, the match today just proved that he's still dangerous when playing on his favorite surface. Hopefully the down time Mark now has before Wimbledon will give Becker some time to set Mark up for a good run at the All England Club.
June 13, 2000: As the 11th seed at the Stella Artois tournament at the Queens Club, Mark bested Athrus 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the second round. Next up is Goran Ivanisevic.
June 12, 2000: Lots of miscellaneous updates this time. Just about every subpage has had links or new information added. New interviews, photos, bios, links and more!
June 11, 2000: Several new photos from the French Open added. Also McEnroe announced today during the final that Mark has an agreement with Boris Becker to act as a coach for the grass court season which for Mark means Queens Club and Wimbledon. Hopefully the incredible skills Becker had on grass can be imparted into Mark for his Wimbledon run this year.
June 4, 2000: In a match that was over before Mark could settle in, Mark was sent packing from the 4th round by upcomer Ferrero 2-6, 2-6, 6-3, 2-6. Ferrero neutralized Mark's serve and his punishing groundstroke game provoked error after error from Mark and even his mighty serve was rattled. But post-match interviews showed Mark still in good spirits and his confidence in his game is high headed into the grass court season.
June 2, 2000: Although two previous matches with Arazi have been close, today's match was easier with Mark winning 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to advance into the fourth round. Next up is the number 16 seed, Juan Carlos Ferrero who while good on clay is a bit inexeperienced. Be sure to check out the French Open website as there are a number of excellent photos and interviews.
May 31, 2000: Mark's through to the third round, defeating Goldstein 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-0, 6-2. However Mark did have 56 unforced errors which he'll have to control in the next round if he wants to survive the dangerous Arazi.
May 30, 2000: Lots of new photos and articles added about Mark's win over Sampras in the first round of the French Open.
May 29, 2000: In a monster three and a half hour five set match with 24 aces, Mark sent Sampras home 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 8-6 from Rolland Garros. Mark kept his composure throughout the match and the finl number of points won by each was very close. All in all it was a fantastic start to this year's French for Mark and next up is Paul Goldstein. The one negative for Mark's female fans is that he's cut his hair even shorter and is now something of a brush cut (think George Clooney).
May 26, 2000: The draw is done for the French Open, and the first round match for Mark is going to be a toughie - none other than American Pete Sampras. While Sampras is weakest on clay, Mark's season so far on the surface isn't too wonderful - so it should prove a most interesting match-up. Also added were new articles and photos links.
May 22, 2000: In an attempt to get more warm-up matches on clay before the French Open, Mark entered the International Raiffeisen Grand Prix in Austria this week. Unfortunately it was another first round exit for Mark, losing to Tarango 6-1, 4-6, 3-6.
May 16, 2000: This is turning out not to be Mark's year for the clay courts. In the first round of the Masters Series tournament in Hamburgm countryman Hewitt dispatched Mark 4-6, 6-7 (6-8). Match details show Mark making an uncharacteristic number of errors and not being quite on his game.
May 10, 2000: Kuerten proved to be in too good of form today and sent Mark home 2-6, 2-6.
May 9, 2000: Mark is through to the second round, defeating Roset 6-3, 1-, 7-6 (7-2). Next up is 4th seed Kuerten, which will be challanging as Kuerten is reportedly back in form and playing without any back pain.
May 8, 2000: Mark will be resuming his clay court season at the Italian Open which starts today in Rome. His first round match-up is with marc Rosset of Switzerland. Two photos and articles also added.
April 19, 2000: Unfortunately Mark's clay court season did not start off well. In the opening round of the Monte Carolo torunament he lost 4-6, 5-7 to Serreira.
April 3, 2000: Mark is officially out of the upcoming Davis Cup match against Germany. The left calf injury suffered two weeks ago in Indian Wells did not improve during the Ericsson, and so he is back in Melbourne receiving treatment.
March 29, 2000: Unseeded American Jan Michael Gambil proved too much for Mark, taking him out of the tournament 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6. oddly there haven't been any articles or photos of Mark posted in the major tennis sites. However earlier this week Mark was named as part of the Davis Cup squad against Germany.
March 28, 2000: Yesterdays third round action saw Mark defeat the
11th seed Pioline 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Next up will be Jan Michael
Gambill.
March 26, 2000: The Ericsson Open (formerly The Lipton) got underway this weekend and Mark advanced to the third round by defeating Saulnier 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. You can follow the action at the Ericsson Open website http://www.ericsson-open.com
March 19, 2000: Several new articles and photos from Indian Wells were added. And good news, there's finally an official site for Mark thanks to the folks at AthletesDirect. There's lots of great first person content on the site - I encourage folks to go check it out!
March 18, 2000: Mark's luck didn't carry him through today's semifinal match against Enqvist. He lost after a hard fought match 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (8-10). No articles up yet about the match, as it just ended a short while ago.
March 17, 2000: Mark had the luck o' the Irish today in taking out Schalken to advance to the semifinals 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.
March 16, 2000: Mark is rolling through at Indian Wells. Yesterday he took out Clavet 7-5, 6-3 and today he sent Haas home 6-2, 6-3. Also it seems that Mark is splitting from Pat Cash, the man credited with helping to bring Mark's fitness and game up to the next level.
March 13, 2000: After taking time off to rest his knee that was reinjured last month, Philippoussis is back on track at Indian Wells. He won his first round night match against Woodruff 6-3, 6-4.
February 18, 2000: Unfortunately for Philippoussis, the Kroger St. Jude is over, and not because of a loss. Citing knee pain (it seems teh knee he tore cartilage in last year at Wimbledon is stiff and lightly swollen) he withdrew from his third round match against Larson.
February 16, 2000: With a mighty roar Philippoussis is through to the third round of the Kroger St. Jude. As the number one seed, he had a first round bye and then took out MacPhie 6-2, 6-4 in a stunning display of power.
Congratulations SyBase Open Champion!!
February 13, 2000: After an excellent night match in which Mark took down Jim Courier 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, he is through to the finals. He'll defend his title against Tillstrom. In yesterday's match Mark clocked one serve in at 138mph, the fastest on the tour so far this year.
February 12, 2000: Philippoussis rolled into the semifinals yesterday, defeating Justin Gimelstob 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. He'll face Jim Courier to get to the finals.
February 11, 2000: Mark is through to the third round in his quest to repeat as SyBase Open Champ, taking out Agenor 6-3, 6-4.
February 9, 2000: After squeaking through Davis Cup with one win and one loss and having trouble finding his rhythm, it's time for Mark to defend his SyBase Open title this week. He's now through to the second round having beated Canas 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3).
January 23, 2000: Unfortunately for Mark, the Australian Open is
over with a fourth round loss to Agassi 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-3. Though
he's out, he didn't go without a fight, taking Agassi to his first loss of
a set so far this tournament. Additionally, ESPN commentator Patrick
McEnroe said that "No one but Agassi could have kept up with
Philippoussis's level of play today."
January 21, 2000: Mark blasted his way through to the fourth round
6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 against countryman Andrew Ilie. The astonishing
number is that Mark won 95% of his first serves! Next up is world number
one Andre Agassi.
January 19, 2000: Mark is through to the third round, defeating
Sluiter 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1. Next up is countryman Andrew Ilie. I
encourage fans to head to the official Aussie Open website and look
under the "Player News" section. There are a number of photographs
and interviews with Mark (but due to the short life-span of the site
they won't be linked individually from this site).
January 17, 2000: It was a harsh first day at the open for Mark.
Fighting off a continuing stiff neck as well as sluggishness and a
possible fever, it took him just under three hours to fight off Okun in
five sets. Let's hope the day off gets him back to right to continue
onward with a bit more ease!
January 15, 2000: Citing a stiff neck, similar to what he suffered
from in the Hopman final, Mark withdrew at the last minute from his final
against Agassi on the advice of chiropractors.
January 14, 2000: Hooray for Mark! Philippoussis has advanced to
the Colonial Classic final by beating Pete Sampras in two tiebreak sets.
He'll meet Agassi in the final. The draw for the Open has done him now
favors, putting him in the top half where he'll meet Agassi in the Round
of 16, Martin in the Quarters and Sampras in the Semis.
January 12, 2000: The Kooyong Classic is underway and Mark
outserved Kafelnikov 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (8-10) 6-1 to advance to the next
round.
January 10, 2000: With Rafter officially passing on singles play at
the Australian Open, Mark has secured the number 16 seed. As for the
upcoming Kooyong Classic, it is still unknown as to whether Mark will
indeed be playing. He has been suffering an injured achilles tendon and
while he says he will be ready for the Australian Open he doesn't want to
risk further injury in Kooyong.
January 7, 2000: Philippoussis defaulted his last matches in the
Hopman Cup due to sore shins. It was more of a precautionary measure than
a full injury, as he wants to avoid it becoming a problem for the upcoming
Australian Open. Currently he is next scheduled to play in the Colonial
Classic, although he may withdraw to rest for the Open. With Rafter still
unconfirmed for the Open, Philippoussis is Australia's No. 1 man in the
event.
January 5, 2000: Austrlia took the win over Austria in the Hopman
Cup with Mark defeating Koubeck 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Also due the the
withdrawls of several top players, Mark is looking at getting the No. 16
seed for the Australian Open.
January 4, 2000: The tennis season is officially underway with the
start
of the Hopman Cup down in Australia. Once again Mark is teamed up with
Dokic and while they were defeated by Thailand today 2-1, Mark did win his
matchup against Srichaphan 6-1, 6-4. Also as a site matter, The Age
Melbourne Online has been moved and renamed to Sports Today and one of
their new features is to offer their tennis photographs for sale.
