Newk Shelters from Scud Attack
By Paul MacPherson, as printed in Aus. Tennis Magazine, March 1998
Australian captain John Newcombe has treid to downplay an apparent rift between himself and Mark Philippoussis after the country's No. 2 ranked player again snubbed Davis Cup.
After making himself unavailable for Australia's opening Tie against Zimbabwe in Mildura next month-and with doubt about his availability for an expected quarter final match-up against India or Italy-Philippoussis was told that he would not be part of the team's 1998 campaign.
An official announcement of Philippoussis' unavailability was not made until early last month, but Newcombe revealed to Australian Tennis Magazine that he knew as early as December of last year that Philippoussis would not play against Zimbabwe. Australian Tennis Magazine understands that Philippoussis advised Newcombe of his intentions during a fiery mobile phone call during practice at Melbourne Park shortly before Christmas. Practising on showcourt three, Philippoussis is believed to have used his mobile phone on the side of the court to call Newcombe after a phone conversation earlier in the practice session between Newcombe and Mark's father Nick.
Australian Tennis Magazine reader Dean Skrobalak, who was in the stands on showcourt three watching Philippoussis practice, claims to have overheard a phone call-which he estimated lasted at least 15 minutes-between Newcombe and Mark Philippoussis.
"Mark was swearing a lot and kept saying over and over 'You and Rochey said you would help me'," Mr Skrobalak said. "I can also remember Mark saying: 'You are just two more people I have to prove wrong, along with the rest of the world. All I need is my family. When the media gives me a pounding, I will go back to them and tell them why I'm not playing Davis Cup, and you'll be sorry.'"
"It wasn't as though I was trying to eavesdrop, Mark took out his phone and started talking pretty close to where I was sitting in the stands."
When Australian Tennis Magazine approached Newcombe with the claims and asked if he recalled such a phone conversation, he said: "I don't want to confirm or deny that." But Newcombe did admit that he knew as early as December last year that Philippoussis would not make himself available for the Zimbabwe Tie. The Philippoussis family, through it's management company Advantage International, declined to make any statement when approached about the phone call.
Philippoussis' comment that "You and Rochey said you would help me" would appear to indicate that he believed the Davis Cup chiefs did not work on his game as much as he would have liked last year. But Newcombe said that he was always willing to work with Philippoussis when his schedule allowed. And despite the disappointment of heading into the 1998 Davis Cup without Philippoussis, Newcombe was at pains not to further complicate his relationship with the 21-year-old.
"Mark might think that there is some sort of rift there, but I'm not interested in creating a rift between Mark and the other players, or Mark and Tony," Newcombe said. "Over the last four years I have done nothing but be a great supporter. The potential is there for him to be a top 4 player in the world and I hope he achieves it sooner rather than later. If there's anything at any time that I can do, I'd be only too happy to do it."
But Newcombe said that he was not prepared to allow Philippoussis to pick and choose when he played Davis Cup competition, saying that he would not entertain a half-hearted commitment like that of Pete Sampras, who only represents his country from the semi-final stage on. "Mark indicated that he would be available for the semis and final, but I said we don't work like that. There are eight other players who have all made themselves available for the whole year," Newcombe said.
The loss of Philippoussis is a massive blow to Australia's Davis Cup hopes in a year in which the country appeared to have its best chance of winning the Cup since its last victory in 1986. Australia has a relatively "soft" passage to the semi-finals, and if it keeps winning, will play all it's Ties on home soil this year.
The decision to selec the grass of Mildura for the Zimbabwe Tie ahead of indoor hardcourt options in Canberra and Launceston has, however, proved judicious. Had Philippoussis joined Pat Rafter in singles competition, Australia would have been confident of beating the two-man team of Wayne and Byron Black on hardcourt. But the contenders for the No. 2 spot-Jason Stoltenberg and Mark Woodforde-would be much better suited to tackle the Blacks on grass.
"It definitely came into the equation when we decided on a venue," Newcombe said. "As we stand now we have a little better back up on grass. At the moment we're looking at Jason and hoping that his knee continues to stand up okay. Jason played in all the singles matches when we were on the comeback trail in 1996 and won all his matches except his dead singles rubber against Croatia. He also had probably his best year on the Tour, which included reaching the semis of Wimbledon."
Despite Woodforde's accomplished singles performance against France in last year's opening round of competition on grass in Sydney, Newcombe said that he would rather save the left hander and Todd Woodbridge for the doubles. Woodbridge is likely to again miss out on a singles berth despite reaching the Wimbledon semifinals last year and currently being ranked 29-18 places ahead of Stoltenberg and 23 places ahead of Woodforde. "Doubles is a key point and to put one fo the Woodies into singles is a big risk," Newcombe said. "We proved a point at White City that a left hander on grass can be very awkward if they're playing well, although wer were very hesitant to make Mark play three matches. Todd has a more straight up and down game, where Mark has a lot of different stuff on the ball, and in a one-off match that can be very difficult."
Zimbabwe is competing in the Davis Cup World Group for the first time after last year defeating Ukraine (5-0), Great Britain (3-0), and Austria (3-2). The Black brothers were undefeated in doubles competition in 1997 and Wayne dropped just one of his singles matches (to Thomas Muster in the Qualifying Round). Wayne made the third round of this year's Australian Open while Byron made the fourth round before falling to world No. 4 Jonas Bjorkman.
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