Scud laughs off doubles pain
Mark Philippoussis shrugged off a sore neck and a demoralising doubles
defeat to declare himself ready for the French Open.
Philippoussis and junior Wimbledon champion Todd Reid were whipped 6-1 6-1
by Spain's Alex Corretja and Fernando Vicente in Australia's last match
before bowing out of the World Team Cup tennis tournament in Dusseldorf,
Germany.
Philippoussis, the world No.52, and Reid, ranked No.263, had never played
together before this afternoon's dead rubber on a damp clay court at the
Rochusclub Dusseldorf.
Reid, 18, was a hitting partner during the Davis Cup quarter-final in
Sweden last month.
The pair got off to a bad start against world No.17 Corretja and No.20
Gonzalez, down 4-0 before Philippoussis's big serve kicked in.
But Philippoussis, who was unable to practise for three days after injuring
his neck in the cold, wet conditions on Monday, was philosophical after
the straight sets loss.(難怪這幾天都沒上場:(..)
"I was just laughing with the way everything was going in the match," he
said.
"What happened out there was unfortunate.
"But Todd(澳洲又出現一個新星:D...加油加油) was hitting the ball well and
it's good for him to have an
experience of this kind of matchplay.
"He's a good kid, he's got a good future ahead of him."
The loss ensured Australia missed out on Saturday's World Team Cup final.
Australia started well when world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt beat Carlos Moya 6-2
3-6 6-3 but Wayne Arthurs dropped his singles match 3-6 7-5 7-5 against
Alex Corretja.
The Czech Republic won through to play either Chile or Argentina in the
tournament decider.
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