DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Mark Philippoussis was not especially pleased with the way he played in his loss Friday night to Pat Cash in the opening round of ATP Champions Tour at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center. Actually, he said he very upset with himself.
But Saturday was another day, and Philippoussis was in a much better mood after he defeated Mats Wilander 6-4, 6-3 to even his record in pool play of the eight-player field to 1-1.
“Today I went out and worked on the things I wasn’t doing well (Friday night),” the Australian said Saturday. “Last night, I was very frustrated with the way I played.”
Philippoussis obviously put Friday behind him in his match against Wilander, who was playing his first match of the round-robin format, the second year the Champions Tour event has been combined with the ATP’s Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.
“I felt like I took a step back last night, but took three steps forward today,” said Philippoussis, a two-time Grand Slam runner-up who last year ended a nearly four-year hiatus from playing in professional tournaments.
Up next for Philippoussis is a Group B match Sunday night against Swede Mikael Pernfors, who fell to another Australian in his first match of the tournament on Saturday when Pat Cash won 3-6, 6-3 (10-6).
Cash said after the match that he has played only two matches in the past two months and he wanted to conserve some energy for the tiebreaker set after falling behind in the second set against Pernfors.
“I might be old and ugly, but I’m wise,” said the 45-year-old Cash, who in 1983 was the youngest player to play in a Davis Cup final when he helped the Aussies win the prestigious Cup. “Things can turn around quickly in a match, and it was a hot day. But luckily, I was serving well.”
Pernfors, a member of the 1986 finalist Swedish Davis Cup team, played well in the second set but could not maintain the change in momentum in the tiebreaker.
“I really played poorly in the first set, and I got off to a bad start in the tiebreaker,” said Pernfors, who was the 1986 French Open runner-up to Ivan Lendl. “I lost, but I had a good time, and that’s what it’s all about. I’ve got two more matches, so hopefully, I’ll play better in those.”
The Champions Tour Group A matches Saturday night will feature Todd Martin against Aaron Krickstein, followed by the John McEnroe-Jay Berger match in the nightcap of the second day of action. Berger replaces Jimmy Arias, who sustained a strained hamstring
in his 6-2, 7-5 loss Friday night to Martin.
In Saturday’s ITC qualifying matches, six Americans remained alive for the last four spots in the main draw, which includes top seed Andy Roddick and No. 2 seed Mardy Fish.
Jack Sock, the 2010 U. S. Open Juniors champion and who many believe might have a bright future, was among the American winners Saturday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Austrian Alexander Peya. Rajeev Ram also won in straight sets, eliminating fellow American Eric Hechtman 7-5, 6-2, and Bobby Reynolds of the U. S. took down Italian Stefano Ianni 6-4, 6-1.
Americans Donald Young, Ryan Sweeting and Alex Kuznetsov also advanced to the next rounds of qualies. Young advanced when Russian Fritz Wolmarans retired down 1-0 in the second set after Young won the opening set 6-3. Sweeting needed three sets to oust fellow American Alex Bogomolov Jr. 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, and Kuznetsov beat Izak Van Der Merwe of Russian 6-4, 6-4.
Saturday’s other winners in the qualifying matches were Aussie Marinko Matosevic, who needed three sets to eliminate Raven Klaasen of South Africa 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3; Canadian Frank Dancevic, who toppled American Michael McClune 7-6(3), 6-3; Russian Igor Kunitsyn, who beat American Tim Smyczek 7-5, 4-6, 6-2; Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, who downed Australian Bernard Tomic 7-5, 6-3; Dominican Victor Estrella, who defeated American Jesse Witten 7-6(3), 6-4; Aussie Samuel Groth, who beat American Lester Cook 6-4, 6-3; Aussie Matthew Ebden, a 6-2, 6-3 winner against American Bjorn Fratangelo; Slovakia’s Blaz Kavcic, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Ecuador’s Giovanni Lapentti; Czech Jan Hajek, who beat Canadian Peter Polansky 7-6(6), 6-4; and Alejandro Falla, a 6-2, 6-4 winner against fellow Columbian Robert Farah.
Topics: Mark Philippoussis, Pat Cash
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