Short Biography

Mark Anthony Philippoussis (born 7 November 1976) is an Australian tennis player. He turned professional in 1994. His father is Greek, whilst his mother is of Italian ancestry. He is well known for his powerful physique, standing at 6 ft 5 inches and weighing 106 kilograms. He has also had a minor career in modeling and was featured in the American reality television dating show Age of Love.

Philippoussis was born in Melbourne and educated at Wesley College.

Coached by his father, Nick Philippoussis, the right-hander has played tennis since he was six years of age. He was briefly coached by former 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash during his junior years, which ended in an acrimonious split.[citation needed]

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 services in the game.

Philippoussis has always claimed to be proud of representing his country in Davis Cup, but personal differences with John Newcombe and Tony Roche interfered with his commitment early in his career. Despite several highly publicised feuds, Mark 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 Mark defeated Cedric Pioline, 6–3, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2 in front of a boisterous French crowd in Nice.

Injuries plagued Mark`s availability for Davis cup and was the cause of a public rift between team-mates Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt. 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 till February 2003. By then Pat Rafter had retired, and John Fitzgerald and Wally Masur were the new Davis Cup captain and coach. The impact of these changes was instantly recognised as team harmony was at its highest throughout the year. Mark Philippoussis once again sealed victory for Australia in the Melbourne Final against Spain. Mark beat Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero in a 7–5 6–3 1–6 2–6 6–0 battle. Mark suffered a pectoral tear at the end of the second set which caused him to lose the third and fourth sets. Displaying spectacular courage, Mark regrouped in the fifth set, and in immense pain, trounced Ferrero 6–0.

Philippoussis beat Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6–4 7–6 at the 2007 Hopman Cup. However, during his second match against Jerome Haehnel, he was forced to retire after hyperextending his knee.[5] An MRI showed that he had torn cartilage in his knee, forcing him to miss the Australian Open.

Philippoussis turned 31 years old on 7 November 2007. He has acquired a protected ranking of 119 in the world and is allowed to use that ranking for entry into eight tournaments. Tennis Australia, not being happy with his lack of match play and unwillingness to play

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