I:Wout is BACK y'all!! Here's the DC-Final..France vs Aussies!! + ..
Wout's Tennisreport:
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@ Welcome to another edition of... @
@ WOUT'S WEEKLY @
@ TENNISREPORTS!! @
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& In This Week's Issue: &
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\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ SECTION 1: THE DAVIS CUP FINAL 1999 \
\ * In FULL Report: All U need 2 know about the Davis Cup Final between: \
\ FRANCE VS AUSTRALIA...don't miss this!! \
\ \
\ SECTION 2: THE HOPMAN CUP 2000 \
\ * In FULL Report: All the matches played in Perth..check it out!! \
\ \
\ SECTION 3: THE ATP & WTA TOUR IN 2000 \
\ * In FULL Report: THIS Week's Action on the ATP TOUR, including... \
\ Full Coverage of Doha, Adelaide AND Chennai: DRAWS THERE!! + \
\ * In FULL Report: THIS Week's Action on the WTA TOUR, including... \
\ Full Coverage of GOLD COAST..don't miss this!! \
\ \
\ SECTION 4: TENNISNEWS FROM 1999 TILL 2000 \
\ * RACQUET-THROWING RAFTER KICKS IN FOR CHILDREN \
\ * RAFTER UNLIKELY TO BE READY FOR THE AUSSIE CIRCUIT \
\ * MAC THE NICE: I FAKED TANTRUMS \
\ * MCENROE HAS NO INTENTINS OF MELLOWING \
\ * WOODFORDE STEPS DOWN FROM DAVIS CUP \
\ * WOODBRIDGE PRODUCES DRAMATIC FINAL SCENE \
\ * RAFTER'S COLLUMN: "THAT'S 'FLIP' AT HIS BEST \
\ * THE BEST SERVERS OF 1999 ON THE ATP TOUR \
\ * THE MOST MEMORABLE QUOTES OF 1999 \
\ * MAILIVAI WASHINGTON RETIRES \
\ * JOHN MCENROE WANTS TO DO AWAY WITH DOUBLES \
\ * STEFFI GRAF AWARDED OLYMPICS' HIGHEST HONOUR \
\ * TOP 10 MALE TENNIS PLAYERS OF THE CENTURY \
\ * TOP 10 FEMALE TENNIS PLAYERS OF THE CENTURY \
\ * REVIEW OF THE YEAR: PART ONE \
\ * JACOB HLASEK A 'WANTED' COACH? \
\ * PAT TO GO WILD, OR NOT AT ALL \
\ * WHY SCUD PARTY KNOCKERS DESERVE A CHAMPAGNE SPRAY \
\ * ATP TOUR $1.2 BILLION VISION \
\ * SERENA WILLIAMS TO PLAY AUSTRALIAN OPEN \
\ * REVIEW OF THE YEAR: PART TWO \
\ * RESEARCH BEHIND 21ST CENTURY TENNIS \
\ * NO MARRIAGE PLANS FOR PAT RAFTER \
\ * SCUD, SAMPRAS THE TIP FOR COLONIAL CLASSIC \
\ * RAFTER TO FOCUS ON DAVIS CUP RATHER THAN TOP 10 \
\ * SAMPRAS, EMERSON ONE-HIT WONDERS \
\ * GREATEST LINE-UP OF PLAYERS EVER TO HIT AUSTRALIAN SHORES \
\ * REVIEW OF THE YEAR: PART THREE \
\ * TENNIS GREAT DON BUDGE BROKE HIS LEG \
\ * MARTINA HINGIS NEEDS 2 THANK FIREMAN'S DAUGHTER? \
\ * AUSTRALIANS FINISH YEAR TOP OF THE POPS \
\ * ANDRE AGASSI & SERENA WILLIAMS SEE CLINTON \
\ * BACK 2 SCHOOL \
\ * JOHN MCENROE CONVINCED PETE SAMPRAS & ANDRE AGASSI \
\ * DOKIC: BRING ON MARTINA \
\ * MORE THAN $3 MILLION ADDED TO WTA PRIZE MONEY \
\ * BECKER SEES BRIGHT FUTURE 4 KIEFER & HAAS \
\ * REMEMBERING THE PAST OF 1999 \
\ * REVIEW OF THE YEAR: PART FOUR \
\ * STEFFI GRAF TO BE SERVED UP - ON THE MENU \
\ * GREG RUSEDSKI WITHDRAWS FROM AUSSIE OPEN \
\ * KOURNIKOVA DUMPS FEDOROV 4 ANOTHER HOCKEY STAR \
\ * PAT RAFTER'S COLUMN: 26-12-'99 \
\ * THROUGH A CRYSTAL BALL, DARKLY \
\ * LEANDER PAES FINDS NEW DOUBLES PARTNER \
\ * MARCELO RIOS MORE FAR FROM DAVIS \
\ * BORIS BECKER QUITS AS GERMAN DAVIS CUP CAPTAIN \
\ * THE SCUD HOLDS COURT \
\ * AND THEN THERE WAS THE YEAR 2000... \
\ * TENNISLEGEND DON BUDGE IMPROVING DAILY \
\ * GREG RUSEDSKI WILL MISS DAVIS CUP AS WELL \
\ * WOODFORDE AIMING HIGH IN LIKELY ADELAIDE SWANSONG \
\ * PAT RAFTER'S COLUMN: SHOULDER DASHES OPEN SINGLES HOPES \
\ * MARK AND THE AUSSIE OPEN \
\ * KAFELNIKOV EXPECTS CROWD SUPPORT AT OPEN \
\ * PHILIPPOUSSIS LIKELY TO MISS START OF DAVIS CUP SEASON \
\ \
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Well I'll be damned....YOU HERE??Hehehe..hi there
peoples..how are you all doing today? Oh..
which reminds
me.....
HAPPY NEWYEAR EVERYBODY!!!!
I hope that you
will have a very succesful 2000, but especially a
HEALTHY year..hell..a
healthy LIFE...that's much better right?
So..how are you
REALLY?? Did you all survive the Millenniumbugs?
To tell you the
truth..I was kinda dissapointed to see that nothing
really happened..not
anywhere..I mean not any MAJOR things..right?
Well I have just
completed this HUGE report...and i am NOT kidding..
this really is
a HUGE report..a total of..get this....900(!!) KB's!!! Oh yeah
baby...you wanted
TENNIS...I will GIVE you TENNIS! hehehe...
I had a whole
month to cover and with the new Ranking system and
all..well there
was just lots to tell ya! :)
Anyway..I also
hope that you like this new lay-out of mine..I am just
testing a bit,
so if you have any suggestion...please give them to me baby..
Hey..it may not
look all too well yet, but at least..I Try......
Anyway I noticed
while sending out my weekly FREE Tennispictures
yesterday, that
a lot of accounts are unknown or couldn't handle my
new lay-out,
so I lost quite some subscribers..I am sorry about that,
but I think that
most computers nowadays ARE able to handle all
the different
kinds of letters..allignments..etcetera..right??
Anyway I am pretty
damn tired now..it's 1:12 am over here and I
still have to
send out this report, so if you don't mind...next time I will
tell you all
about my private life ok? Just like you are used to read
about that..giggle....I
just share everything with you don't I? ;)
Well before I give you my report....check this out...
########################### TENNISREPORT-MEMBERS ##################################
# OH MY GOD!! YOU AND 331 OTHER PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY READING MY REPORT!! #
########################### TENNISREPORT-MEMBERS ##################################
ALRIGHT!!!! I DID IT PEOPLE!!! I made it to the 300 subscribers!!!Yeeehaaaa!! Are you all gonna help me to make it 400 now?? Tell
ALL your friends to subscribe!! :))
Well the time has come to really say goodbye...
Wout, your friend
and tennisreporter from Holland! :)
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Well I know
it's been a long time since I last send out my report..let's see...hmm...the
1st of December to be exact..
wow...so
now you have been missing out on a month of tennis...what did I do to you?
Well not to worry...I have
gathered
all the info you need to know about..this is gonna be some Tennisreport
yáll! :) Are you all ready?
Well here's
all you need to you know about the final of the Davis Cup 1999:
FRANCE VS AUSTRALIA!!!
Let's start at the beginning kay?...
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH 1999:
The French
and Australian teams have arrived in Nice, France, in the lead up
to this
week's Centenary Final of the 1999 Davis Cup by NEC.
Both teams
will put the final touches to their preparation with a series of
practice
sessions on the clay court at the Nice Acropolis Palais Des
Espositions
this week prior to Friday's opening singles rubbers.
The two teams
for the Final as announced by respective Captains Guy Forget
and John
Newcombe are:
France:
Cedric Pioline,
Sebastian Grosjean, Fabrice Santoro and Olivier Delaitre.
Australia:
Mark Philippoussis,
Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge.
The official
draw will be held at the Congress Nice Acropolis at 1.00 pm
local time
on Thursday.
The Davis
Cup by NEC is the largest annual international team competition in
sport with
129 nations participating in 1999. The Final is the culmination of
the centenary
year of the Davis Cup competition and brings together two
nations
that have dominated world sport in recent times, France being the
current
football World Cup champion and Australia winning a trio of World
Cups in
1999 in cricket, rugby and netball.
Sporting
rivalry between the two nations will be at its height in Nice with
sell-out
crowds of passionate supporters guaranteed for each of the three
days. This
is the ninth Davis Cup Final to be played in France but the first
in Nice.
Sites for the other French Davis Cup Finals were Paris (1928-33);
Grenoble
(1982) and Lyon (1991).
France first
entered the Davis Cup competition in 1904, one year before
Australia.
This is only the 13th meeting between the two nations with
Australia
leading the series 9-3. It is the first time the two nations have
met in the
Davis Cup Final.
The two nations
have met four times on a clay court with each nation winning
twice: Australia
in 1934 and 1935 and France in 1988 and 1991. This is their
second meeting
on Indoor clay, France defeating Australia on an indoor clay
court at
Clermont Ferrand in 1988.
On paper,
the players favoured to played singles for Australia -
Philippoussis
and Hewitt - have the advantage over their expected opponents
Pioline
and Grosjean in previous match-ups, Philippoussis leading 2:0 over
Pioline
and 1:0 over Grosjean and Hewitt leading the French No. 1 2:1 and
Grosjean
1:1.
Route to
the Final:
France has
played all three ties at home this year, defeating the Netherlands
in Nimes;
Brazil in Pau and Belgium, also in Pau.
Australia
has only had one home tie this year, against Russia in Brisbane in
the semifinals.
In the opening round, Australia defeated Zimbabwe in Harare
and in the
second round defeated the United States in Boston.
Champion
Nations:
Australia
has won the Davis Cup 26 times: 1907-09, 1911, 1914, 1919, 1939,
1950-53,
1955-57, 1959-62, 1964-67, 1973, 1977, 1983,1986
This is
second only to the United States (31)
France has
won the Davis Cup eight times: 1927-32, 1991, 1996
It has been
one of the most successful nations this decade, reaching the
final three
times.
Quotes:
"On paper,
they are the favourites, but we are waiting for them at home, on
our surface,
in front of our public. I'm glad we are playing Australia. If we
win, we
might as well do it over a great and prestigious team in the Final,
especially
for the Centenary Year."
Guy Forget,
Captain of the French Davis Cup Team
"We are ready
for anything the French are prepared to dish out. These guys
have dreamt
of having their names engraved on that magnificent trophy, and
we're not
prepared to let anything stand in our way."
John Newcombe,
Captain of the Australian Davis Cup Team
Davis Cup
Trophy on display:
The magnificent
Davis Cup trophy will be in display in Nice throughout the
week leading
up to the Davis Cup Final.
Davis Cup
by NEC 2000
The proposed
venue for the 2000 Davis Cup by NEC World Group first round tie
between
Brazil and 1999 Finalist France to be played from 4-6 February, 2000,
has been
confirmed as the Centro Municipal de Forianopolis, in Forianopolis,
Santa Catarina.
The tie will be played outdoors on a clay court.
Proposed
venues for the other first round ties as previously confirmed are:
Zimbabwe
v USA, Harare, ZIM (Indoors, Hard)
Czech Republic
v Great Britain, Ostrava, CZE (Indoors, Red Clay)
Spain v
Italy, Murcia, ESP (Outdoors, Red Clay)
Russia v
Belgium, Moscow, RUS (Indoors, Supreme)
Slovak Republic
v Austria, Bratislava, SVK (Indoors, Green Set Carpet)
Germany
v Netherlands, Leipzig, GER (Indoors, Taraflex)
Switzerland
v Australia, Geneva, SUI (Indoors, Supreme)
NICE, France,
Nov 30 (Reuters) - French captain Guy Forget placed extra
pressure
on Lleyton Hewitt on Tuesday by claiming that the 18-year-old
Australian
was the man to beat in the Davis Cup final starting in Nice on
Friday.
Forget, who
won the Cup as a player in 1991 and 1996, said he felt Hewitt,
arguably
the most impressive newcomer in recent years, was stronger than Mark
Philippoussis,
Australia's number one singles player.
``My impression
is that Lleyton Hewitt is stronger mentally, is faster and
more patient
than Philippoussis,'' he said.
``Against
Hewitt, I expect a tough dog-fight, a long and demanding struggle.
Unless the
pressure is too much for him,'' he said.
Forget knows
what experience can bring to such an event and he said Cedric
Pioline
was the only player with a strong enough past record to be expected
not to crack.
The Australians
appeared far more relaxed than their hosts as they made the
most of
the facilities in the French Riviera city of Nice, but Hewitt
confessed
some restlessness.
``I'm getting
more nervous as it's getting closer. It'll be the most
important
day in my career so far,'' he admitted.
``You must
realise that I'm playing the final in my first Davis Cup. I can't
believe
it even though I know I can beat anybody when I play well,'' he
added.
Philippoussis,
a decent claycourt player, also said the pressure was getting
greater
and greater.
``I feel
good on this surface but the pressure is there. It's even greater
than in
a Grand Slam final,'' said Philippoussis, who lost to compatriot Pat
Rafter in
the U.S. Open final last year.
Australian
captain John Newcombe appeared the only one fully relaxed before
Friday's
first singles even though he admitted he felt compelled to win next
weekend.
``There's
no real pressure but this year our teams in rugby union, cricket,
netball
and hockey were all world champions. You feel obliged to emulate
them,''
he said.
Newcombe's
main fear is not about the match itself but about the post-match
dinner.
Two years
ago in Sydney, when the Australians beat the French in a Davis Cup
tie, then
French captain Yannick Noah forced him to sing and dance in front
of cameras
at the Sunday evening party.
``If I have
to dance and sing with the French captain again, I'd rather do it
with Guy
than Yannick. I'm not crazy,'' he said.
Standing
taller
By LINDA
PEARCE
NICE
It was September
1997, and Australia had taken its resurgent Davis Cup hopes
to the hardcourts
of Washington D.C. The new US Open champion, Patrick
Rafter,
and his mate and doubles partner, Mark Philippoussis, were there to
carry the
singles load, and the Woodies would take care of the doubles. Even
with Pete
Sampras across the net, a rare win on US soil seemed a possibility.
The reality
was rather more harsh. The Americans won the semi-final 4-1, with
Mark Woodforde
and Todd Woodbridge bringing Australia's sole joy. Yet there
was also
plenty of off-court action in that difficult Davis Cup fortnight, as
it emerged
a few months later when Philippoussis and Rafter had split and the
big-serving
lad from Williamstown had aired his considerable grievances
against
captain John Newcombe and coach Tony Roche.
It had been
around that time that a cancer-stricken Nick Philippoussis had
asked for
more time and help from Roche for his son Mark. The approach was
declined
for time reasons and, in one of the most bitter chapters in
Australia's
proud and matey Davis Cup history, several teammates were drawn
into the
ensuing torrent of angry
words, and
Philippoussis was not to represent his country again for 18
months.
Yet there
was also some lower-key action that September. It came in a
Washington
restaurant during a dinner for about 16 Australian officials,
partners
and friends, including president Geoff Pollard and his wife Eleanor.
During the
evening, Newcombe stood and renounced the captaincy role he had
held for
four years for just two wins in world group ties. Newcombe was out,
he announced.
Coach Roche could have it all.
``Tony just
said no,'' Newcombe recalled this week during an Australian
practice
session at the Palais des Expositions in Nice, the site of this
weekend's
Davis Cup final against France. ``He said, `We started this
together
and we're going to finish it together'.''
Newcombe
now says the curtain will fall at the end of 2001, regardless of
results.
With second place the worst Australia can do this year, he and Roche
are expected
to be reappointed for yet another of the 12-month terms they
prefer.
If nothing else, with the first round against Switzerland brought
forward
to early next February, changeover time would be limited even should
one be desired.
That will
stretch the Newk-Roche era to eight years, nowhere near the reigns
of legendary
cup custodians Harry Hopman and Neale Fraser, but several years
longer than
either would have predicted when they succeeded Fraser, whose
last campaign
took Australia to its most recent final, a 4-1 loss to Germany
in Dusseldorf
in 1993.
Newcombe's
critics would point out that it has taken Australia six years to
merely return
to where he and Roche started; even supporters could not argue
it has been
a period marked by controversy, voluntary and forced
unavailability,
modest results (not helped, admittedly, by a plethora of away
ties) and
the humiliation of relegation for the 1996 competition.
Which brings
us to Budapest. September 1995. The world group qualification
round against
Hungary, played on a clay-covered ice hockey rink and contested
in the absence
of the injured No.1 Richard Fromberg by Todd Woodbridge and a
debutant
Philippoussis. Beaten by a team of unknowns with a highest world
ranking
of 190. A national disgrace branded ``unthinkable'' by a horrified
Fraser.
Worse, even, than the great Mildura debacle of 1998.
Yet also
something of a watershed, according to Newcombe. ``In my mind I can
track (the
recovery) back to that. It was a real knockdown and Rochey and I
could have
walked away from it at that stage and said `this is too hard', but
we told
all the guys we believed in them and they had to get up and they had
to prove
to everybody that they were better than that.
``Budapest
was the real beginning for these guys. I mean they were knocked
down on
the floor, and up until Budapest for an Australian to reach a
quarter-final
of a Grand Slam they thought it was great. If you look at it,
after Budapest,
in '96 we started getting to the semis of grand slams and in
'97 we won
a grand slam (Rafter's first US Open). So Budapest was just a case
of the boys
being knocked on the floor and us saying to them that they'd
better get
up and stand taller.
``If you
really want to earn something there's going to be hardships along
the way.
You have to accept that, and you have to keep believing that it's
there and
that you are a winning team. And every time a bad thing's happened
to us over
the last six years we've come back a little bit stronger every
time.''
This year,
it must be said, commendably strongly, with a team that Newcombe
says had
grown progressively weaker on paper after a full-strength opening
round, but
still kept rising to the increasingly big occasions. Seven players
have been
used in contrasting conditions, indoors and outdoors, in three
countries.
The old and the new have excelled.
There have
also been disappointments, of course. The only doubles point
Australia
has taken in 1999 was in Harare, where the Woodies won their 10th
straight
match at this level, after which Woodbridge lost form, fitness and
confidence.
There are
also still some mutterings about Newcombe's communication methods,
particularly
long-distance, but Hewitt responds to his leadership and the
Woodies'
results while in his care cannot be faulted. The captain has also
instilled
a fiercely patriotic spirit in most of his squad, which may count
for plenty
in what is sure to be a
loud and
hostile French environment.
So to the
future. Newcombe is confident there is a strong field of captaincy
candidates
in the wings, headed by John Fitzgerald, Wally Masur and Darren
Cahill,
and would like to see one chosen sooner rather than later next year
to facilitate
a smooth changover. He also advocates the retention of the
two-man
captain-coach system that frees Roche to concentrate on the on-court
preparations
for 24 weeks of the year and leaves to Newcombe the duties of
chief motivator,
strategist and public front man.
One reason
Newcombe is keen to continue into 2001, he says, is to help
Rafter,
recovering from shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. ``I
thought
Pat would be at his peak at this moment and playing the best tennis
of his career
and now he's had this body blow,'' Newcombe said.
``It's going
to be very tough for him next year; the first six months are
going to
be very tough.''
The rest
of the plan is for two of the sport's most famous Australian names
to retain
a minor ongoing involvement, and Newcombe predicts a ``pretty
good'' next
15 years for Australian tennis. ``Now we've just got to keep
capturing
the Lleyton Hewitts at 13, 14 years of age, and blooding them and
bringing
them along and keeping them going.
``Someone
else is going to be doing that, but Tony and I when we finish at
the end
of next year will probably play some sort of role, looking at those
younger
guys and whoever's in charge of Davis Cup tennis saying, `Hey, this
is the young
guy you should take and brainwash them sort of into attitude
that we're
after'.''
>From Friday,
Newcombe, Roche and their team will be relying on Hewitt's
attitude,
fighting spirit and love of the big occasion; on Philippoussis'
ability
to overcome his nerves and hold his big game together on the
unforgiving
red clay; and on the Woodies' experience and record despite their
recent decline
and the final being played on
probably
their worst surface.
For inspiration,
all can look back on Rafter's comeback from a two-set
deficit
against Cedric Pioline at White City in 1997, Hewitt's upset of Todd
Martin,
or Jason Stoltenberg's heroics on Goran Ivanisevic's home court in
Split in
1996 that helped to retain Australia's place in the top 16. Nor, as
we have
seen over the past six years, is there a shortage of tough times on
which to
draw.
``Every time
we get knocked down we've stood up as a team a little bit
higher,
and through those six years, you see those things that have happened
to us, whether
they be off the court or on the court, and each time we've
just hung
in there and we've come back and stood a little taller,'' Newcombe
said. ``Now
we're in a Davis Cup final.
So maybe
this is the time when we stand the tallest of all.''
Newcombe
tells why France will mark Philippoussis
DAVIS CUP
by LINDA PEARCE
Nice: Australian
captain John Newcombe believes the French will target the
perceived
erratic tendencies of key singles player Mark Philippoussis in the
Davis Cup
final starting here on Friday.
Newcombe
said France hoped to exploit Philippoussis's limited experience of
five-set
matches on clay - the surface on which Pete Sampras, Goran
Ivanisevic
and others have found that power is rarely as important as
patience.
Philippoussis
has a claycourt record of 35-23 and has performed well at the
World Team
Cup in best-of-three-set matches, but this year showed his
frustration
with the slow red dirt in a first-round loss to Jason Stoltenberg
at the French
Open.
''This is
a big test for Mark,'' Newcombe said during Australia's five-hour
practice
session at the noisy Palais des Expositions.
''That's
what the French are counting on, three out of five sets on clay and
keeping
the ball in play. They'll be trying to wear him down.''
Philippoussis
is ahead of Lleyton Hewitt as Australia's No1 singles player in
the final,
despite having played just one tie - the first-round win over
Zimbabwe
in Harare in April - in the two years since his falling-out with
Newcombe
and coach Tony Roche.
The Victorian,
with a 6-4 Cup record and Wayne Black his biggest victim, will
on Friday
play French No2 Sebastien Grosjean, the 1996 world junior champion
so unfamiliar
to the Australians that Newcombe watched him practise on
Monday.
Philippoussis,
who will open the reverse singles on Sunday against world No13
Cedric Pioline,
has played 10 matches since knee surgery after Wimbledon in
July and
was the last to arrive at last week's Australian training camp in
San Remo.
Newcombe,
asked on Sunday whether he was happy with Philippoussis's form
considering
his lack of match practice, said: ''I don't know because we
haven't
seen him. He needs a couple of hard days' focus now and he'll be
fine. He's
been practising on a claycourt in Florida.''
The Newcombe-Philippoussis
relationship continues to be pursued. Asked by the
Herald how
Philippoussis was fitting in, Newcombe said: ''Yeah, the boys as a
team are
here to do a job, and we've just got to get that done, whatever it
takes.''
French newspaper
Le Journal Du Dimanche quoted Newcombe thus: ''With Mark
it's very
difficult to explain. It would take me maybe an hour and still you
wouldn't
understand. It's just better to say we've had our problems and now
he's back
playing for us. End of story.''
And to a
reporter from French sports daily L'Equipe, which staked out the
closed Australian
camp at San Remo, Newcombe said: ''Everything's settled
now, but
is anything perfect in this world?''
By Sunday,
if Australia have claimed their first Davis Cup since 1986, and
the first
on foreign soil since 1973, it may seem close. Despite injuries at
various
times to Philippoussis, spearhead Pat Rafter and Todd Woodbridge,
they have
made it to the final with 4-1 away wins over Zimbabwe and the US
and a 4-1
home defeat of Russia.
France are
seeking their third title of the '90s, buoyed by their fourth home
tie for
the year and the knowledge that 75 per cent of Cup ties have been won
by the host.
Newcombe would not be drawn into a prediction on Australia's
first final
in his six-year reign.
''I know
what the French do at the French Open - better than at any other
tournament
because of how the crowd lift them,'' he said.
''We'll have
to see how our guys handle it. This would be the biggest match
that Lleyton's
played, and possibly Mark, too. He's played the US Open final,
but it was
a 50-50 crowd, whereas here you're in a Davis Cup final and things
are going
to go berserk out there.''
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1ST 1999:
PARIS, Dec
1 (Reuters) - France go into this weekend's Davis Cup final
against
Australia on the verge of a remarkable hat-trick of triumphs this
decade.
Victory would
ensure a third 1990s Davis Cup title for the hosts -- all won
as underdogs.
The French,
who have won the cup eight times to Australia's 26, may enjoy
home advantage
and with it choice of surface but the Australians are
otherwise
the favourites.
France were
equally underdogs when they upset the United States in Lyon in
1991 in
a famous first victory for the team captained by Yannick Noah.
Five years
later, Noah and his team travelled to Malmo where they upset hosts
Sweden for
a second shock victory of the decade.
France had
not previously won the trophy since the six successive victories
of the ``Musketeers''
between 1927 and 1932.
Australia, though, believe they can get the better of the French.
RESPECT FOR TRADITION
Their captain
John Newcombe is relishing the final and said it was fitting it
should be
between the two countries that took the Davis Cup most seriously.
``I think
France and Australia are the nations with the biggest respect for
the tradition
of the Davis Cup, even more than the Americans even though they
created
the event,'' Newcombe told the French sports daily L'Equipe.
``It's really
amazing that our two countries should meet for the last final
of the century,''
he said at Australia's training camp in San Remo, Italy.
The United
States, who boast three of the world's top 10 in Andre Agassi,
Pete Sampras
and Todd Martin, should regularly make the final but their
internal
problems, which new captain John McEnroe is determined to end, means
they so
often let themselves down.
Newcombe
recognised that the French always play well in front of their
supporters
and said that would give the hosts a big advantage.
Noah, a gifted
motivator, handed the reins to one of his most loyal players
and one-time
fellow professional Guy Forget this year.
Forget believes
victory would be a major boost for the future of a talented
new generation
of French players but he plays down his own importance.
PIOLINE UNBEATEN
``Once on
the court, it's not Forget-Newcombe -- it's Pioline-Hewitt, you
can't lose
sight of that,'' the French captain said.
``(Cedric)
Pioline knows tennis too well for me to tell him how he's going to
win, for
me to give him the miracle recipe,'' Forget said.
``I'm not a sorcerer, Yannick wasn't a sorcerer, Newcombe isn't a sorcerer.''
Forget is
the one figure linking all three of France's exploits in the 1990s,
having played
singles in 1991 and an impressive doubles with Guilaume Raoux
in Sweden
in 1995.
French number
one Pioline is the rock on which France have built their
success
this year.
He is unbeaten
in seven Davis Cup matches in 1999 including the doubles in
the first-round
victory over the Netherlands.
He has got
the better of leading players such as Richard Krajicek and Gustavo
Kuerten
in the competition in which his serve-and-volley game has thrived on
the fast
indoor surfaces of Nimes and Pau.
But now he
and his team mates are switching to clay which Forget feels is the
right surface
on which to play the Australians.
Cash says Scud's ready to explode
By Leo Shlink - Herald Sun
Pat Cash,
the cult hero of two Australian Davis Cup triumphs, yesterday
delivered
sobering warning to both France and Australia ahead of this week's
knife-edge
final in Nice.
The 1987
Wimbledon champion predicated US Open finalist Mark Philippoussis
was poised
to explode 'like a freight train' into French plans of lifting the
centenary
cup.
But the feisty Victorian said John Newcombe's team should be wary of France.
Dismissing
concerns Philippoussis had weakened Australia's chances of
securing
it's 27th victory overall by delaying his arrival for practice on
the Riviera
until Friday, Cash said the strapping right-hander was bursting
with confidence.
"Mark is
like a freight train and they (the French) won't be able to stop
him," said
London-based Cash, who was pivotal to Australian wins over Sweden
in 1983
and 1986.
"Only (Cedric)
Pioline is good enough to go with him for a while, but I don't
know whether
even Pioline can stick with him for the whole match."
"Whoever
plays No. 2 (Sebastien Grosjean) for France won't be able to stop
him once
he gets going."
While optimistic
Australian can post its first win in 13 years, Cash said the
ability
of Philippoussis and teenager Lleyton Hewitt to handle what is
certain
to be raucous French crowd would be crucial.
"That crowd
is going to be going absolutely nuts and it's going to be very,
very draining
for both of our guys from the very first point." He said.
"But, in
a way, Mark and Lleyton will be better playing away from home. There
will be
less expectation than if they were playing at home and there will
probably
be fewer nerves."
The former
world No. 4 said Australia had
superior
players -- technically and mentally -- to those of France, but
conceded
the final was touch and go. "It's the same old story with tennis on
the big
occasion, it all comes down to the day," Cash said.
"Whoever
has the best day on the day will win. On paper, we're the
favourites,
but paper doesn't win you matches. "What we have to do to make
sure of
winning is to beat their No. 2 player twice. If you do that, you can
put a lot
of pressure on their doubles team (Olivier Delaitre and Fabrice
Santoro)
and then you get stuck into Pioline."
"With a bit
of luck, Lleyton can beat Pioline again. He's done it twice this
year and
he can do it again provided he settles down OK."
Cash's effort
to catapult Australia to victories at Kooyong over Sweden
established
the aggressive serve-volleyer in the pantheon of Australian Cup
greats,
so much so that former captain Neale Fraser described Cash as the
best player
to have played under him. His role in the '86 triumph was little
short of
extraordinary.
Having downed
Stefan Edberg in straight sets on the first day then partnering
John Fitzgerald
to a win in the doubles, Cash ground out a magnificent
five-set
win over Mikael Pernfors after trailing by two sets to love.
The achievement
rates higher in Cash's mind than his march to the Wimbledon
title in
'87 when he triumphed a succession of greats, including Mats
Wilander,
Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl to land his only Grand Slam singles
title.
"Wimbledon
was great, but it was a personal thing" Cash said. "But for team
spirit and
doing it for Australia, you couldn't beat Davis Cup."
TEN: HEWITT:
"I'LL PLAY MY WAY"
By Trevor
Marshallsea
NICE, France,
Dec 1 AAP - Australian Davis Cup dynamo Lleyton Hewitt has
vowed to
stick to his own brand of tennis in the final against France,
despite
taunts that his antics could further incite the crowd.
French captain
Guy Forget stepped up the psychological battle leading into
the final
by expressing doubts Hewitt, and fellow singles player Mark
Philippoussis,
would have the temperament to shut out a parochial 10,000
crowd at
Nice's Acropolis Exhibition Centre.
Forget also
accused Philippoussis of mind games in saying how comfortable he
was on a
red clay surface that was "faster than expected".
But overall,
Tuesday was a day when the temperament of the 18-year-old Hewitt
came under
the microscope looking ahead to his singles engagements with
30-year-old
Cedric Pioline and 21-year-old Sebastien Grosjean.
Forget echoed
Pioline's earlier comments that Hewitt's fist-pumping,
foot-stomping
traits would further alienate a mob already sure to be hotly
against
him from Friday.
But Australian
captain John Newcombe has still given Hewitt free rein to
carry on
as usual this week.
And the pony-tailed
teen saw no reason to change the style which shot him to
Davis Cup
stardom in the quarter and semifinals.
"That's the
way I play my tennis and I'm not going to take a step back for
Cedric,
or the crowd," Hewitt said.
"I'll do whatever it takes to get myself through, and get my team through."
Hewitt said
he had learned the importance of blanking out a hostile crowd in
his Davis
Cup debut in the quarterfinal in the USA.
"It's a lot
tougher away from home, but I learned a lot in Boston about how
I've got
to focus my emotions and my effort on my bench and my team-mates on
the side
of the court," he said.
Newcombe backed his young colt to absorb the pressure in his own way.
"Lleyton's
exactly how he is and what he is," Newcombe said. "He'll do the
appropriate
thing.
"He's not
going to be in anyone's face - he's going to do whatever he does
out there
to get himself to play the best possible tennis he can.
"If people like that, they like it. If they don't, it's their prerogative."
Forget marvelled
at Hewitt's energy, saying he was "like the little toys that
can go on
forever" in battery advertisements, but cautioned that the South
Australian
was now entering unknown territory.
"How the crowd will react to his behaviour, I don't know," Forget said.
"How he's going to react to a crowd who's against him, I don't know.
"It's his
first time in a Davis Cup final, it's his first time with 10,000
people against
him, it's best of five sets on clay.
"It's quite
a new experience for him, and how he reacts to that nobody knows
- even he
doesn't know."
Hewitt insisted,
however, that the big occasion had not been thrust upon him
too early.
"I've learned
a lot from the last two Cup ties, particularly (the semifinal)
against
Russia, because there was so much pressure on," he said.
"So far I'm handling it a little better than in that one."
Forget also
noted 23-year-old Philippoussis had failed to silence doubts
about his
mental toughness.
"In the past
he has shown he can be inconsistent, and even more so on clay,
against
a crowd that's not on his side, and against players who are able to
eventually
beat him or make life difficult for him," Forget said.
Philippoussis
has a stronger winning percentage on clay at 60 per cent than
his French
opponents, of whom Pioline has the best ratio at 56.4 per cent.
Philippoussis
and Hewitt also hold leads in head-to-heads with Pioline and
Grosjean.
But the Melburnian's
comment that he was pleasantly surprised to find the
Nice indoor
court faster than expected drew more accusations of mind games
from Forget.
"It looks pretty slow to me," Forget said.
"Whether
he's telling the truth now about the speed of the court I don't
know."
TEN: DOUBTS
OVER GROSJEAN FOR DAVIS CUP FINAL
By Trevor
Marshallsea
NICE, France,
Dec 1 AAP - The Australian Davis Cup team was on alert today
for a late
switch in the French outfit for this weekend's final amid
suspicions
Fabrice Santoro would replace Sebastien Grosjean in the singles.
Australian
captain John Newcombe noted Santoro, listed as a doubles player
this week,
and France's nominated replacement Nicolas Escude had practiced
singles
play yesterday, while Grosjean's leg was heavily strapped.
The practice
schedule backed up speculation raised earlier this week that
Santoro
would be brought in as a counter to the pace of Australia's Lleyton
Hewitt.
Asked if
he would be surprised if Grosjean didn't play, Newcombe said: "No, I
wouldn't.
"You get
the feeling maybe Grosjean might play and he may not play, and
they're
getting who they're going to play if he doesn't play. He has got a
huge bandage
on his leg."
Newcombe
said the way Santoro and Escude practiced yesterday he suspected
that if
Grosjean was to be replaced, it would be by 33rd-ranked Santoro
rather than
37th-ranked Escude.
"It looked
to us as if Escude was a bit sacrificial, serving and volleying on
every ball,"
Newcombe said.
Earlier this
week, French captain Guy Forget hinted he was considering
bringing
in Santoro for 27th-ranked Grosjean to play singles alongside
13th-ranked
Cedric Pioline.
"Hewitt is
a great counter-puncher who feels confident against players who
can play
quickly. I don't know what he would do about a guy like Fabrice,"
Forget told
French newspaper L'Equippe.
Santoro has
never played Hewitt before. He has played Australia's other
singles
player Mark Philippoussis five times, with the Melburnian leading in
head-to-heads
3-2.
Hewitt beat
Grosjean on the only occasion they played -- at Delray Beach this
year on
clay, the surface to be used here this week.
Philippoussis also has a 1-0 winning record against Grosjean.
NICE, France,
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Australian
players preparing for the Davis
Cup final
against France refused to undergo a drugs test on Wednesday because
of a misunderstanding
over doping procedures, organisers said.
Two doctors
went to the players' hotel for the tests, said Christian Dixin,
the official
in charge of the organisation for this weekend's final.
``There are
two elements in this case. There is an agreement between the
International
Tennis Federation (ITF) and the French Sports Ministry about
doping tests
stating that they should take place during the three days of
competition
proper,'' he added.
``The Australians were aware of this agreement,'' he added.
``But there
is also a deal between the French and Australian governements
which says
that any athlete from either country can be random-tested at any
time in
France or Australia.
``This is an agreement that the Australian team say they are unaware of.''
Australian captain John Newcombe confirmed the misunderstanding.
``Apparently,
an agreement has existed since September between our two
countries,
but we did not know about it. But I have no objection to the tests
taking place,''
he said.
``The ITF
was also unaware of it which added to the problem. In tennis, we
play in
many different countries and are not always aware of the different
rules,''
he added.
NICE, France,
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Australian players preparing for the Davis
Cup final
against France refused to undergo a drugs test on Wednesday until a
misunderstanding
over doping procedures was sorted out, organisers said.
But after the rules were clarified they all underwent the tests later in the day.
Christian
Dixin, the official in charge of the organisation for this
weekend's
final, said the players thought they should be tested only during
the three
days of competition under an International Tennis Federation (ITF)
agreement.
``The Australians were aware of this agreement,'' Dixin said.
``But there
is also a deal between the French and Australian governements
which says
that any athlete from either country can be random-tested at any
time in
France or Australia.
``This is an agreement that the Australian team say they are unaware of.''
Australian
captain John Newcombe confirmed the misunderstanding, but said he
had no objection
to the tests being carried out.
``Apparently,
an agreement has existed since September between our two
countries,
but we did not know about it,'' he said.
Tennis-Woodies facing double trouble in Davis Cup
By Chrystel
Boulet-Euchin
NICE, France,
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Arguably the world's best tennis pairing over
the past
decade, Australians Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge face double
trouble
going into this weekend's Davis Cup final in France.
Not only
have their French opponents Olivier Delaitre and Fabrice Santoro got
the better
of them in their last two matches, but they must face them on clay
-- the Woodies'
least favourite surface.
``We have
lots of respect for them, they have been one of the best, or maybe
the best
team in the world over the past ten years,'' said Santoro.
``They won
everything... except the French Open,'' he added, stressing that
clay was
not the Australians' best surface.
Delaitre, in fact, has beaten the Woodies on the last three occasions.
``I beat
them with Fabrice in the quarter-finals in Cincinatti last season
and in the
doubles Masters,'' he said.
``And I also
beat them with (Indian) Leander Paes in Indianapolis,'' he
added.
Saturday's
doubles match could again prove decisive. Since 1981 the team who
has won
the doubles has won the cup.
Woodbridge
and Woodforde have the best doubles record in the Davis Cup with
13 victories
and just two losses and Woodforde says he does not really fear
the French.
``They beat
us twice but each time we were far from our best. They're not
impressive
physically and have some weaknesses, like all teams,'' he said.
``And their two victories against us will put pressure on them,'' he added.
But the French insist they can win, especially on clay.
``They play
very neat tennis and they're excellent when balls bounce at hip
level,''
said Santoro.
``But on
clay, balls bounce shoulder high. What's more important is that
their game
plan is based on two or three rallies... if you make them play
longer,
they become vulnerable.''
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2ND 1999:
Forget's
sly remarks sting Philippoussis
By LEO SCHLINK
in Nice
AUSTRALIAN
ace Mark Philippoussis is bristling over an assessment by French
captain
Guy Forget that he is suspect on clay and is the weak link in the
Davis Cup
tennis final starting tomorrow.
"Let's wait
until Friday and see if I can change his mind," Philippoussis
angrily
responded last night after being informed of Forget's comments. "I'm
ready to
go and this court really suits me."
Forget is
normally ultra-conservative in his approach to the game and his
remarkable
comments are surprising given they have only proved to be a red
rag under
the nose of Australia's most raging bull.
Philippoussis
is one of the few men in international tennis with the
distinction
of having won Tour events on every surface, including clay.
Told "the
inefficiency of his game" was one of reasons Forget had chosen red
clay to
be laid at the Palais des Expositions, Philippoussis smiled and said:
"We'll see."
"I'm feeling
very comfortable out there on centre court. It's a beautiful
court and
it seems like there is going to be a great atmosphere," the
Australian
said.
Forget said
Philippoussis "in the past has shown that he could be
inconsistent",
a malady Forget expected was likely to be exacerbated by the
tensions
of a Davis Cup final.
"It could
be even more so on clay against a crowd that's not on his side
against
players that are able to make life difficult for him," Forget said.
"But he's
got that much talent and power that even on a slow clay court he
can still
hit winners.
"But on clay
you have to be patient. You can't hit winners off every ball.
Here after
six or seven games, the balls are very humid and big. It is
impossible
to hit winners.
"You have
to work the points and be patient. I don't know if Mark can do
that. Pete
Sampras is the best player in the world and he does a lot of
things better
than Mark but the reason he has not been able to win the French
Open is
that he has not had the patience."
Desperate
not only to be part of the first winning Australian Davis Cup unit
since 1986,
Philippoussis also wants to prove himself to his teammates who,
to a man,
regard the Victorian as a rare talent but have had reason to
question
his commitment to the cause.
Sensitive
to the mood, Philippoussis has relentlessly driven himself as never
before in
fitness drills and has spent hours on the practice court, such is
the depth
of his ambition to help land the cup for Australia.
"I've been
doing an incredible amount of work with (coach) Gavin Hopper in
Miami,"
Philippoussis said.
"I'm fitter than I've ever been and I'm moving as well as I ever have.
"I think
it's going to pay a big toll for the match because this tie is going
to come
down to fitness.
"I've done the hard work and now I'm ready to go."
Philippoussis's
impressive condition has eased any concerns Newcombe might
have held
over the comparatively late arrival of the US Open finalist, whose
eyes narrowed
with conviction when confronted with Forget's comments.
Philippoussis's
co-coach Pat Cash, hero of the 83 and 86 triumphs, believes
the strapping
righthander is poised to explode on to the French "like a
freight
train".
For his part,
Philippoussis said the controversies of his troubled
relationships
with team coach Tony Roche, Mark Woodforde and Newcombe were
officially
dead.
"The skeletons were buried a while back," said Philippoussis.
POLLARD TO
COMPLAIN TO GOVT OVER TESTING AGREEMENT
By Trevor
Marshallsea
NICE, France,
Dec 2 AAP - Tennis Australia intends to complain to the
governments
of Australia and France over a bilateral drugs testing agreement
which caught
the Aussies' Davis Cup final camp on the hop here yesterday.
Australian
captain John Newcombe at first refused permission for two of his
team members
to be tested by representatives from the French Ministry of
Sport, who
turned up unannounced at a training session in Nice.
The two men
said they were entitled to test two players at random from each
side under
an agreement between the sports ministries of both countries.
While the
French team agreed, Newcombe and Tennis Australia officials said
they knew
nothing of the agreement, and it was only after confirmation of its
existence
was received a few hours later that Newcombe acquiesced, with
Lleyton
Hewitt and Mark Woodforde supplying urine samples.
Tennis Australia
officials still insisted the tests would be invalid, saying
all testing
linked to the final -- which starts on Friday -- should be done
by the International
Tennis Federation.
And Tennis
Australia president Geoff Pollard said he would complain to
Canberra
and Paris, claiming his organisation was never told about the
agreement,
signed in September.
"I think
they (the two governments) have a responsibility to let all national
sporting
bodies know what agreements they've entered into," Pollard said.
"You'd like
to know under what sort of rules and conditions you are being
tested.
"It's a very odd set of circumstances."
The Australian
camp said it would not respect the findings from the tests
conducted
on Hewitt and Woodforde.
"Lleyton
and Mark gave the samples, but we still consider the testing
invalid,
since on site testing is up to the ITF," Tennis Australia
spokeswoman
Lysette Shaw said.
"We don't know what they're testing for, or what their procedures are."
Newcombe
said: "Apparently an agreement was signed between the two
governments
in September, but we didn't know about it.
"If somebody
just turns up asking to do a test like that, and you don't know
who they
are, and the International Tennis Federation didn't know either,
that's a
problem."
The identities of the French players sent for testing was not made public.
TEN: NEWK
GETS SECRET TIP FROM EALES
By Trevor
Marshallsea
NICE, France,
Dec 2 AAP - Australian captain John Newcombe has revealed a
secret weapon
in his bid to win the Davis Cup tennis final this weekend --
advice from
the last man to captain an Australian side to a world title in a
final against
France.
Wallaby skipper
John Eales has come forward with a "top secret" fax to the
Aussie camp,
fresh from his side's crushing defeat of France in the World Cup
final in
Cardiff last month.
"John and
the Wallabies imparted to us some information on how to beat the
French,"
said Newcombe, a broad grin spreading beneath his trademark
moustache.
"I'd tell you what it is, but we'd have to kill you."
Newcombe
said the team was highly appreciative of the good wishes from the
Wallabies,
which continues something of a "love in" between Australia's world
champions
-- Steve Waugh's cricket side being another -- and the aspirants
assembled
here.
"Steve sent
us a fax in Brisbane before our semi-final against Russia,"
Newcombe
said.
"We sent
one to the Wallabies during the World Cup, and the cricket team
before they
beat Pakistan, so it's becoming quite a thing."
Waugh also spurred the Wallabies on via fax during their World Cup campaign.
Victory for
Newcombe's men would complete a glorious year for Australian
sport, which
also included the netball world title.
His team
insists they are feeling no extra pressure to emulate the deeds of
their compatriots,
though admitting success over France -- the world soccer
champions
-- would put them in illustrious company.
"To see the
cricketers win was unbelievable, and the rugby was the same,"
said 18-year-old
singles player Lleyton Hewitt.
"To be put in the same bracket as those guys would be a great honour.
"There may
be pressure there in the public's eyes, but we're not worrying
about competing
with other sports."
But when
asked if he'd like a street parade similar to those afforded the
cricketers,
the Wallabies and the netballers, Hewitt said: "It would be
fantastic."
TEN: FORGET
PREDICTS "WAR ON THE COURT"
By Trevor
Marshallsea
NICE, France,
Dec 2 AAP - Gallic verve and passion versus Aussie pride and
power --
it's a recipe that has French captain Guy Forget telling fans to
brace themselves
for one of the great Davis Cup tennis finals here from
tomorrow.
"It will
be war on the court," Forget said as emotions began to rise for the
start of
the tie.
Bookmakers
may have Australia clear favourites, based on rankings and singles
head-to-heads,
but Forget has vowed his players are prepared for the matches
of their
lives as they chase a third Cup for the decade.
"Our players
have a good chance. They are fit, they are highly motivated, and
they are
really pumped up.
"We are going
to make them (Australia) live hell from the first point to the
last.
"The public are also going to be behind us."
Forget has
kept his nominated singles players Cedric Pioline and Sebastien
Grosjean
away from the media during a low key build-up this week.
Speculation
is rife he will replace Grosjean with doubles player Fabrice
Santoro,
or even reserve Nicolas Escude. The answer will be known at today's
draw at
11.00pm (AEDT).
But whatever
the composition of a team aiming to give France a ninth Davis
Cup -- putting
them level with Britain in third place overall behind USA (31)
and Australia
(26) -- Forget says his entire squad is ready and well prepared.
"Every player
is aware of the fight to come. I'm sure the five of them will
be ready,"
he said, including Santoro's doubles partner Olivier Delaitre and
Escude.
"We're now
very eager to start the weekend. It's very stressing to wait for
the match
to start."
Forget said
his side had worked hard on its the clay surface it chose for the
final, but
that physical aspects were not the most important at this stage.
"What happens in the mind is what makes it difficult," he said.
Forget is
banking on the paroachial 10,000-strong home crowd to give his team
an edge,
while also acknowledging it was easier to play the Australians on
clay than
any other surface.
"I know if
we play to our best level we can come through a lot of problems,"
he said.
Santoro,
who with Delaitre enjoys a 2-0 head-to-head doubles record against
Australia's
Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, said he was thrilled to be in
a final
against Cup heavyweights such as Australia.
"It was like
in the World Cup soccer final last year -- France-Brazil was
better than
France-Croatia," he said.
"It's the
same thing here against Australia on the 100th anniversary of the
Davis Cup.
It motivates us a lot."
NICE, France,
Dec 2 (Reuters) - Australia's
first string
singles
player Mark Philippoussis was drawn on Thursday to meet
Sebastien
Grosjean in the opening singles of the Davis Cup final
on Friday.
Lleyton Hewitt
will play French number one Cedric Pioline in
the second
singles rubber of the tie later in the day. The final
is being
played on an indoor clay court in Nice.
Pioline will
play Philippoussis in a meeting of former U.S.
Open finalists
in the first reverse singles on Sunday with
Hewitt closing
the tie against Grosjean should it go to the
wire.
Australia's
''Woodies'' -- Mark Woodforde and Todd
Woodbridge
-- meet French pair Fabrice Santoro and Olivier
Delaitre,
who have beaten them in both their previous
encounters,
in Saturday's potentially decisive doubles.
It looms
as possibly the most pivotal moment of the Davis Cup Final: Cedric
Pioline
v Lleyton Hewitt on day one of the Final has the potential to be a
blockbuster.
And the stakes couldn't be higher. If Hewitt, as the No. 2
ranked Australian,
can upstage French No. 1 Pioline in front of a hostile
crowd in
Nice, Australia will have struck a massive psychological blow on the
opening
day of the Tie.
Both players
have been in sizzling form this year. Hewitt takes a 4-0 record
in his debut
season into the Final; Pioline has won all of his five "live"
singles
rubbers this season, including brilliant straight-sets wins over
Gustavo
Kuerten and Fernando Meligeni in the quarters, and a key win over
Richard
Krajicek in the first round.
Pioline and
Hewitt have built up quite a history in the past year. It began
at the Australian
Open in a night match on Centre Court. Hewitt, still full
of confidence
after reaching the final in Adelaide and the quarter-finals in
Sydney,
steamrolled the Frenchman 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. Hewitt hardly missed a ball
that night,
and Pioline's body language revealed that he had run out of ideas
early in
the match how to combat his youthful tormentor.
In their
second meeting, Hewitt beat the former Wimbledon finalist 7-5, 6-4
on grass
at Queen's. And in a dramatic third meeting on clay at the recent
Paris Indoor,
Pioline secured his first victory over the 18-year-old 6-7,
6-3, 6-7.
During that match the French crowd got stuck into Hewitt, who
normally
thrives on pumping up a crowd in his own favor with his high-octane
gesticulations.
But the experience is likely to be a great preparation ahead
of the Cup
Final, where Pioline is certain to orchestrate the French crowd
against
Hewitt again.
With the
final line-ups for the Finals to be known later tonight, Australia
is eager
to see whether French No. 2 Sebastien Grosjean, who has a leg
injury,
will take his place. If not, either Nicolas Escude our Fabrice
Santoro
are likely to get the nod. If Santoro is chosen, he will have to play
three consecutive
days as he will anchor France's doubles team with Olivier
Delaitre
against the Woodies on day two.
Friday December 3RD 1999 :
Cup captains
open serving for final
By LINDA
PEARCE, NICE
(Sports
Today)
At the Brisbane
semi-final two months ago it was Yevgeny Kafelnikov making
the bold
predictions about the outcome of a Davis Cup tie against Australia.
In Nice two
months later it is the usually more circumspect French captain
Guy Forget
suggesting his players have little to fear from John Newcombe's
team.
As Australia's
suspicions about a late French singles switch proved
unfounded,
and Sebastien Grosjean was drawn to play Mark Philippoussis in
today's
first singles, with Cedric Pioline to follow against Lleyton Hewitt,
Forget disputed
the visitors' clear pre-tie favoritism over his own
well-prepared
group.
``They have
no reason to have any complex about Philippoussis and Hewitt,''
said Forget,
who replaced dual cup-winning captain Yannick Noah this year.
``If we
were meeting Sampras and Agassi you could say you had two absolute
monsters
facing you. But this, I repeat, this is no Everest.
``If someone
asked me to put $100 on Pioline-Philippoussis, or
Pioline-Hewitt,
looking objectively at it, I'd put my money on Pioline every
time. I'm
going into this tie with the clear conviction that we have the
edge. I
just can't imagine Cedric or Sebastien being terrorised at the idea
of meeting
the Australians.''
Perhaps not,
but neither has a winning career record against Philippoussis or
Hewitt,
the two Australians set to play singles in the centenary Davis Cup
final, starting
today. While the home advantage is France's, victory may not
necessarily
follow, with the visitors having won four of the past five finals.
Still, the
French have a clay court, the balls of their choice and a partisan
crowd, and
Forget is safely promising a warm reception. ``We are really
pumped up
together,'' he said. ``We are going to make life hell from the
first point
to the last, and the public are going to be behind us. It's going
to be war
on the court.''
But Newcombe
was equally confident. ``If we get behind 2-0, I think we can
still win.
I don't think they can win if they're behind 2-0. That's why I
like our
team a little better,'' he said.
The one common
feature of the past 22 Davis Cup champions has been doubles
success.
Not since 1977, when John Alexander and Phil Dent lost to Paolo
Bertolucci
and Adriano Panatta but Australia still defeated Italy at White
City, has
the third match been dropped but the trophy still won.
Hence the
importance of tomorrow's match between Todd Woodbridge and Mark
Woodforde
and Frenchmen Olivier Delaitre and Fabrice Santoro.
Earlier,
a drug-testing issue flared before Newcombe agreed to a request for
Woodforde
and Hewitt to submit urine samples to French Government
representatives
acting under a bilateral agreement signed in September.
Hewitt has
the buzz, but he's no bunny
By Linda
Pearce, NICE
(Sports
Today)
Lleyton Hewitt
has fast become a favorite subject of Davis Cup week. French
captain
Guy Forget likens him to the indefatigable Energiser bunny, even if
Cedric Pioline
questions the effect of being so furiously, fist-clenchingly,
determined.
John Newcombe
says he will simply do whatever it takes to win, popularly or
not. And
Hewitt? He seems to care not a bit what anyone thinks.
"That's just
the way I play my best tennis, and I'm not going to take a step
back for
the French crowd or for Cedric at all,'' Hewitt said before practice
at the Palais
des Expositions. "I'm going to go out there and I'm going to do
whatever
it takes to get me through and get my team through.
"There's
no doubt it's a lot tougher away from home, but I think I learnt a
lot from
the Boston tie. I've got to focus all my emotions and all my effort
to my bench
and to my teammates on the side of the court ... I've just got to
block out
the whole French crowd and use it as a positive, not a negative.''
The last
is a word Hewitt utters rarely. More typical is this Tuesday
statement
to the media gathered in Nice for today's opening singles matches
in the Davis
Cup final. And remember that the South Australian is 18, but
also that
he is cocky, apparently nerveless and with a fine 4-0
representative
record.
"I go out
in every match and I believe I can't lose,'' Hewitt said. "I get
out there
and I believe if I play my best then I believe I can win every
match. Some
days the opponent's too good; that's sport, though. Certainly I
believe
I've got the ability and I think I'm hitting the ball well enough to
win both
my singles matches.''
That would
be some effort, considering his first opponent will be Pioline,
the experienced
world No.13. His second will be 27th-ranked Sebastien
Grosjean,
in what could be a live fifth rubber that decides the tie. Hewitt's
debut efforts
in Boston and follow-up against Russia were quite something,
but this,
on such a big occasion and in such a hostile environment, would be
more spectacular
still.
Pioline has
wondered if Hewitt, whom he trails 1-2 in career meetings but
beat narrowly
before a partisan Parisian crowd last month, can sustain his
emotion
and motivation. But not Forget. "I think Hewitt's got this
unbelievable
amount of energy. He seems like he's advertising for these
batteries,
the little toys that can go on forever.
"I've never
seen him being tired emotionally. How the crowd is going to react
to that
behavior I don't know, because people think that he overdoes it. I
don't think
so. I think he tries the best he can and that keeps him motivated.
"He's a very
tough guy to play against because he runs every ball back, he
passes very
well, he's got a great forehand, great backhand, he can be very
offensive,
so he's a bit like Michael Chang when Chang was his age. The same
kind of
player with a different way of emotionally showing what's going on,
but he's
the same type of player so I think he'll be very hard to beat.''
Still, despite
winning a title on green clay at Delray Beach in May, Hewitt's
senior experience
on the European red dirt is limited. This year it started
and finished
in the first round at Roland Garros with a five-set loss to
Martin Rodriguez.
This will
also be his first Davis Cup final, although Forget agrees that age
is no barrier.
Hewitt was barely five when Australia last won the Davis Cup,
on the back
of Pat Cash's 1986 heroics against Sweden at Kooyong, but he has
seen the
replay several times. He has also been indoctrinated with the cup
spirit for
more than three years, and is a disciple as willing as Cash was
before him.
"My main
achievements so far in my career have been the Davis Cup matches
I've won,''
Hewitt said.
AND NOW..FINALLY..THE ACTION Y'ALL...HERE WE GO....LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLEEEE!!!
ICE, France,
Dec 3 (Reuters) - Australia took a 1-0 lead over France in the
Davis Cup
final when Mark Philippoussis crushed Sebastien Grosjean 6-4 6-2
6-4 in Friday's
opening singles.
The big-serving
Australian dominated his younger opponent on the clay
surface
chosen by the French to win in just under two hours on his first match
point.
``I'm extremely
happy with how I played. I was solid today. I stayed
calm,''
Philippoussis said.
``This is
what it (the Davis Cup) is all about,'' he said after enjoying
vociferous
support from a large contingent of Australian fans in the 10,000
capacity
crowd.
Philippousis,
who used his booming first serve to great effect, broke his
opponent
five times in the match while allowing Grosjean only one service
break in
the opening set.
French captain
Guy Forget had predicted that a tall and heavy player like
the world
number 19 would have trouble on the indoor clay surface and tire
quickly,
but the Australian was rarely in trouble.
Grosjean,
playing in his first Davis Cup season, played limply and it was
the Frenchman
who was forced to do all the running in the one-sided match.
Lleyton Hewitt
plays France's Cedirc Pioline, ranked 13 in the world, in
the second
singles. Australia have won the Cup 26 times and the French eight
times, including
twice in the 1990s when they were underdogs.
NICE, France,
Dec 3 (Reuters) - Cedric
Pioline tamed Australian teenager
Lleyton
Hewitt 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 to put France level at 1-1 in the
Davis Cup
final on Friday.
Pioline won
a superb exhibition of singles play lasting three hours 40
minutes
on the indoor clay court, despite losing his nerve when 5-1 up in
the third
set against an 18-year-old who never knew when he was beaten.
``He's a very good fighter, very quick. He's got courage,'' Pioline said.
Australia
went 1-0 up when Mark Philippoussis crushed Sebastien Grosjean
6-4 6-2
6-4 in a one-sided rubber lasting just under two hours.
Pioline,
30 and the highest ranked player in the final, needed all his
Davis Cup
experience to handle Hewitt, unbeaten in four matches in the
competition
and going for his shots from the first game.
Hewitt took
the Frenchman to tiebreaks in the first two sets, only to
squander
set points when it came to the crunch.
Pioline went
4-0 and 5-1 up in the first tiebreak but let Hewitt off the
hook with
the Australian coming back to 5-3 with a superb lob.
Hewitt saved
three set points before serving himself for the set, only to
double fault.
Pioline won it when Hewitt returned wide.
A service
break for 5-5 helped Hewitt reach another tiebreak in the second
set in which
another fine Pioline lob into the corner put the Frenchman 5-1
up.
But again
Hewitt fought back with Pioline only securing the set with his
third set
point.
Pioline,
playing superbly at the net in the opening game of the third set,
pulled away
with a break of serve to go 5-1 up as Hewitt's head dropped for
the first
time.
But when
he served for the match, Pioline was long on his first match
point. He
then netted a return to give Hewitt the break for 5-2 and a glimpse of
a
chance which
the Australian took with both hands.
Hewitt broke again and drew level at 5-5.
Pioline,
ranked 13 in the world, saved four break points in the 11th game
before regaining
a vital lead at 6-5.
The Frenchman
secured victory on the first of two match points when Hewitt
returned
wide.
Pioline,
30, needed all the experience built up over 26 Cup singles to
handle the
tenacious Hewitt, who was unbeaten in four Cup matches and went for his
shots from
the start.
``It's the
worst feeling I've ever had in tennis, losing a Davis Cup
match,''
the 18-year-old said.
``He's a very good fighter, very quick. He's got courage,'' Pioline said.
For Hewitt
looks an almost certain winner against Grosjean if the match
goes to
the final singles on Sunday. Philippoussis played conservatively,
keeping
his powerful serve under wraps, but still had far too much for the
21-year-old
Frenchman.
``If it comes
down to my match on Sunday, I think I've learnt a lot today
about the
pressure in a Davis Cup final,'' Hewitt said.
Australian
captain John Newcombe said: ``Lleyton knows he could have played
better in
the first 1-1/2 sets. But I think he's pretty confident if he has
to play
the decider.''
Pioline won
the first and second set tiebreaks, only after allowing Hewitt
to fight
back from 5-1 down in both.
The Frenchman,
who helped his country win the Davis Cup in 1996, dug deep
to tame
Hewitt in a match full of squandered break points. Pioline converted
only six
of his 15, Hewitt just three of his 13.
``I couldn't
make the breakthrough, get that little bit of luck to turn the
match round,
like the double fault serving for the set in the first
tiebreak,''
Hewitt said. ``I couldn't make the right shots on the big
points.''
It was Pioline's
sixth victory in seven Davis Cup singles this year, having
lost only
when France had already secured a 3-0 lead in the semifinal
against
Belgium.
``(Pioline)
played great, mixed it up well today. I think it came down to
his having
played a Davis Cup final before. You can't buy experience,'' Hewitt
said.
Newcombe
said: ``This is perfect for the Davis Cup, the match is poised at
1-1 ahead
of what should be an unbelievable doubles match.''
Mark Woodforde
and Todd Woodbridge, one of the best doubles pairings of the
decade,
are favourites to beat Fabrice Santoro and Olivier Delaitre even
though they
have lost twice to the Frenchmen since last year.
Newcombe
said Philippoussis had played almost perfectly and could beat
Pioline,
ranked six places higher at 13 in the world, when they meet in the
first reverse
singles on Sunday.
``He put
Grosjean on the ropes and did not let go,'' Newcombe said. ``This
is the type
of game Tony (Roche) and I feel Mark can play on clay.
``He has
the shots to penetrate Cedric's game. I've seen him do it
before.''
Philippoussis
believes the crushing win could sweep away the last traces of
bitterness
that followed his decision not to play in a 1998 Cup tie against
Zimbabwe
that Australia lost.
``I was out
to prove how important the Davis Cup is to me because some
people doubted
that,'' he said. ``There's nothing more important to an athlete
than to
represent his country.''
``This is
definitely one of my most important wins, maybe the most
important
of my career,'' said Philippoussis who is his team's senior player in the
absence
of injured Pat Rafter.
``Cedric's
match was typical Davis Cup with both guys giving their best
with absolutely
no limits,'' French captain Guy Forget said. ``Cedric was
getting
frustrated in the third set but I told him to believe in the quality of
his
game. He
reacted and never gave up.''
Saturday December 4th 1999 :
NICE, France
(AP) - Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge staged a brilliant
comeback
to beat France's Fabrice Santoro and Olivier Delaitre on Saturday
and take
Australia to within one victory of a Davis Cup final triumph.
The 2-6,
7-5, 6-2, 6-2 victory silenced French fans and gave Australia a
2-1 lead
in the best-of-5 final.
Australia,
playing its 44th final, goes for its 27th Cup championship
Sunday when
Mark Philippoussis plays Cedric Pioline and Lleyton Hewitt faces
Sebastien
Grosjean.
Woodforde
and Woodbridge, now unbeaten in 11 Davis Cup matches spanning
five years,
used all their experience to claw back into the match after the
French pair
came to within just one point of taking a 2-0 lead.
``We came
back from the dead,'' Woodbridge said. ``At 5-3 and a set down it
felt like
we were two sets down. It was an incredible feeling to win from
where we
were.''
``I hadn't
missed a ball in practice by more than a foot and suddenly today
was missing
by 10. But we started to settle and that was the key,'' he
added.
Both teams
knew the importance of the match: ever since 1978 the winner of
the doubles
match in the Davis Cup final has gone on to win the trophy.
Initially,
the thunderous support that unnerved Grosjean on Friday only
served to
inspire France's doubles team, who raced to a 4-0 first-set lead.
Santoro's
deft lob to break Woodbridge's service indicated their early
dominance.
Santoro and
Delaitre, a team that has won five doubles titles, looked
unstoppable
taking the first set in just 38 minutes and moving to a 4-2
second-set
lead.
In the fourth
game of the second set, the crowd was brought to its feet
when Delaitre
won a point with an instinctive volley played from behind his
back.
But the Aussies
refused to buckle, saving four set points at 2-4 and a set
point when
Santoro was serving for the second set at 5-4.
Suddenly France's volleying lost its sparkle.
The Woodies
broke service again to take the second set before dominating
the third
to the delight of the Australian fans decked out in green and gold.
Santoro's
service faltered in the third game of the fourth set and despite
fervent
home support, the visiting team eased to victory, winning 16 of the
last 20
games.
Woodforde
sealed the 3 hour, 8-minute win with a smart high backhand volley
and the
Australian camp immediately began celebrating.
``It is so
satisfying because a lot of people thought we couldn't win
before and
during the match. I have never seen Mark so emotional,'' Woodbridge
said.
Team captain John Newcombe was full of praise for his players.
``I haven't
seen Mark react so fast for about four years. He was like a man
possessed,''
he said.
With Sandon
Stolle playing in place of Woodbridge, Australia lost its
quarterfinal
and semifinal Davis Cup doubles matches.
Santoro and
Delaitre had won the two previous meetings against Woodforde
and Woodbridge,
both last year, but Newcombe had no hesitation in reuniting the
experienced
pair, five-time Wimbledon champions, twice winners at the U.S.
Open and
Australia's most successful Davis Cup doubles pair with 13 wins.
The French captain said his team would come out fighting Sunday.
``Tonight
I will tell the team that they have their backs to the wall,'' he
said. ``We
will have to be aggressive and creative.''
``The team
that won the doubles today put one hand on the cup,'' French
captain
Guy Forget said.
SENSED DANGER
``I really
sensed danger at 5-3 in the second set. They were starting to
play better
and better. They improved from the moment Woodbridge won serve for
the first
time,'' he said.
``(The French pair) did their best. I have nothing to complain about.''
Woodforde
and Woodbridge took their Davis Cup tally to 14 wins and only two
defeats
-- one in the 1993 final which they lost to Germany and the last in
1995 to
a Russian pair.
The Australians
were hesitant in the early games and quickly found
themselves
4-0 down as both had their first service games broken.
Another break
of service, the result of two double faults by Woodbridge,
saw the
much tighter French pair deservedly take the first set on their fourth
set point.
``Getting
organised at the net and settling down was a major key,''
Woodbridge
said.
Australia's
captain John Newcombe said: ``Apart from the fact the French
were playing
so well, the guys weren't making their first volley behind the
serve.
``Once they
did, they had the French under pressure, but it was a set and a
half before
we won a volley exchange at the net and I thought 'that can't
be right',''
he said.
``I realised we were on the back foot and not moving forward.''
Australia
began to turn the tide when Delaitre was broken in the 10th game
of the second
set as they pulled back to 5-5.
The first
break of service against Santoro two games later put the match
1-1 and
the Australians never looked back after that, taking 16 of the last 20
games.
LOTS OF PRESSURE
``This has
got to rate pretty highly measured against our past results with
Todd coming
back in and us not having beaten these guys before. There was
lots of
pressure,'' Woodforde said.
Newcombe
refused to consider the final all but won, however, saying: ``I'm
not underestimating
the atmosphere out there. There's no way the match is
over. The
crowd are going to try to turn it round for France.
``Mark has
not really been through it yet,'' he said of that kind of
pressure.
Mark Philippoussis,
who meets French number one Cedric Pioline in Sunday's
critical
first reverse singles, gave Australia their first point with a
comfortable
three-set win over Sebastien Grosjean on Friday.
Pioline,
who then put the match 1-1 with a thrilling and much tighter
three-set
win over teenager Lleyton Hewitt, presents Philippoussis with a
much tougher
obstacle.
An experienced
Davis Cup campaigner with victory in the 1996 final under
his belt,
Pioline saves some of his best tennis for the competition and manages
to pull
the crowd behind him.
``The noise
invades you,'' Newcombe said of the atmosphere at the 10,000
capacity
court in Nice's Exhibition Centre.
``I tell
the players they need to take it inside them and use it
positively.''
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6TH 1999:
NICE, France,
Dec 5 (Reuters) - Mark Philippoussis, at odds with
Australia's
tennis establishment a year ago, was his nation's hero on Sunday as
he led them
to their 27th Davis Cup crown.
``Yes, why
not,'' he said, when asked if he thought he was a hero,
but he pointed
out it was, above all, a team effort and a well-deserved
victory
for Australia.
``I feel
great and the whole team feels great. We've really felt, as a
team, we
deserve it,'' he said.
The world
No 19 crushed France's top player Cedric Pioline 6-3 5-7
6-1 6-2
to give Australia an unassailable 3-1 lead with one reverse singles
still to
play between Lleyton Hewitt and Sebastien Grosjean.
Australia
eventually won 3-2 after Grosjean took the last rubber
6-4 6-3.
``I've never
concentrated or played as well as today. This is
definitely
the Best win of my life. It's the real start of my tennis career,''
Philippoussis
said.
SUCCESS ON CRUCIAL POINTS
Pioline,
who helped France win the Cup in 1996, said: ``He was very
solid from
start to finish. He tried a lot of things and with lots of
success,
especially on crucial points.
``I had to
do more to force him into mistakes, but I wasn't able
to. He played
a big, big match.
``He was
maybe lucky at times with the net and the lines but he
deserved
to win,'' Pioline, who has now lost all three of his matches against
Philippoussis,
said.
Philippoussis,
who gave Australia the first point with a three sets
win
over Grosjean in the opening singles on Friday, was his team's first
string singles
player because Pat Rafter is injured.
Last year,
the 23-year-old right hander from Melbourne refused to
play Davis
Cup for Australia.
He was upset
when Newcombe and assistant coach Tony Roche sat in
Rafter's
camp during the all-Australian U.S. Open final which Rafter won.
``I've admitted
in the past I made mistakes and said some things
that were
wrong,'' he said on Sunday.
This year
Rafter and Philippoussis teamed up in the first round
victory
over Zimbabwe before a knee injury to Philippoussis put him out of
Wimbledon
and
out of Australia's
Davis Cup quarter-final and semifinal.
``The guys
did it in Boston,'' Philippoussis said of the
quarter-final
victory over the United States. ``I was injured for Wimbledon... I
don't know
if I could have won it but I'd take this over Wimbledon any time.''
WORLD CROWN
Australia,
who last won in 1986, took their tally to 27 victories
in a year
in which they have also taken the world crown in both rugby codes,
cricket
and netball.
Only the
United States have won the trophy more times, 31, in 87
finals
since the Davis Cup was created in 1900.
They came
into the centennial final as slight favourites with
doubts as
to how they would cope on the clay surface chosen by the French.
In the end,
the Australians belied their traditional dislike for
the
surface as Hewitt gave Pioline a run for his money in three tight sets
on
Friday and
Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge took Saturday's doubles in four
sets.
Newcombe
said Philippoussis had shown he had the clay court game to
go on and
win the French Open.
``I don't
know, it took a lot out of me to win this match and to
win Roland
Garros you need seven of these victories. I've just had two,''
Philippoussis
said.
One thing
this son of a Greek immigrant is sure to find in France
is something
to celebrate the biggest moment of his career so far.
Asked if
he would drink something stronger on Sunday night than the
water or
orange juice of his changeovers during the match, he smiled: ``I
told the
guys to go out and find me some Ouzo.''
SYDNEY, Dec
6 (Reuters) - Australia's
Davis Cup champions will be honoured
with a series
of ticker tape street parades in the country's main cities,
Tennis Australia
said on Monday.
Following
the trend set by Australia's world champion cricketers, rugby and
netball
players, celebrations are being arranged for Melbourne, Sydney,
Adelaide
and Brisbane.
Australia's
players are sure to receive a heroes' homecoming after their
3-2 victory
over France in the weekend's final in Nice.
The warmest
welcome is likely to be reserved for Mark Philippoussis, the
big-hitting
Melbourne player who put Davis Cup controversy behind him and
produced
the best form of his career to win both his singles matches.
The team's
victory was shown live on Australian television and dominated
Monday's
television and radio broadcasts.
The Sydney-based
Daily Telegraph's afternoon edition carried the news of
Australia's
win on its front-page under the simple headline ``Our Cup.''
Philippoussis,
who was vilified for his refusal to play for Australia last
year because
of a dispute with team coach Tony Roche and non-playing
captain
John Newcombe, was described as a national hero after beating French number
one Cedric
Pioline in Sunday's reverse singles.
``Philippoussis
shouldered his responsibilities with revealing maturity to
give Australia
one of its greatest Cup moments,'' the paper said.
Prime Minister
John Howard even interrupted Monday's parliamentary question
time to
congratulate the team on Australia's 27th Davis Cup title.
``It's always
been a great sporting talent of Australia, tennis, and the
epitome
of tennis achievement is the Davis Cup,'' Howard said.
Heroes' welcome
awaits Aussie Davis Cuppers
By Nichola
Cooper
Australia's
heroic Davis Cuppers will follow the lead of their fellow world
championship-winning
colleagues and bask in ticker tape parades around the
country.
With Australia's world championship cricketers, World Cup Rugby
heroes and
netball world championships being feted in Australia's main
cities on
their return from international triumphs, the Davis Cup team will enjoy
a similar
welcome home following their 3-2 win over France in Nice.
Tennis Australia
has already begun to plan the parades, which could take in
up to four
cities: Melbourne, Sydney, Lleyton Hewitt’s home town of
Adelaide
and Brisbane, site of Australia's semi-final win over Russia. Australia's
victory
has been the lead story of news bulletins all day, and is certain
to be front-page
news in tomorrow's morning newspapers, as it was in afternoon
editions
earlier today.
Prime Minister
John Howard brought a brief halt to question time in
Parliament
to laud the team. "It's always been a great sporting talent of
Australia,
tennis, and the epitome of tennis achievement is the Davis Cup,"
he said.
The hero
of the victory, Mark Philippoussis, is staying on in Europe for a
few days
to enjoy a snowboarding vacation.
Aussie stars
may pick and choose their Ties in 2000
By Australian
Tennis Magazine Editor Paul Macpherson
Australian
captain John Newcombe is likely to come under pressure to relax
his attitude
towards team commitment when Australia sets out to defend its
Davis Cup
title next year. Throughout the six-year reign of Newcombe and
Tony Roche,
Australian players have been required to make themselves available
for all
Davis Cup Ties throughout the year to be welcomed into the team. The
policy has
grated particularly with new Cup hero Mark Philippoussis, who
has not
always declared himself available.
But a need
for Newcombe and Roche to more carefully manage their playing
stocks and
their determination to continue nurturing brilliant teenager
Lleyton
Hewitt could see a shift in policy. If Australia required Pat
Rafter
and Philippoussis
to play all Ties next season, Hewitt's exciting Davis Cup
career could
stall. And it may be unwise to play Rafter in all Ties as he
attempts
to avoid overworking his troublesome right shoulder. And
Philippoussis,
who may wish to miss an early-round Tie, possibly against
Switzerland
in Switzerland in the week after what is expected to be a long
and gruelling
Australian Open campaign, could be cut some slack given his
commitment
to Australia's victory over France in Nice.
With such
a strong "No.3" player in Hewitt, it does not seem necessary to
insist that
Rafter and Philippoussis - assuming they remain ahead of the
precocious
teenager in the rankings - play together in the early rounds.
Indeed,
the move to develop inexperienced Cuppers Hewitt, Sandon Stolle and
Wayne Arthurs
this year played a crucial role in Australia's ultimate
success.
The Australians
saw the value of nurturing great depth within their ranks
this season.
The team began the year with its strongest line-up - Rafter
and Philippoussis
in singles, the Woodies in doubles - but got progressively
weaker on
paper in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. However, the team's
depth saw
it win both Ties to advance to the Final, where it was still shy
of being
at full strength, with dual US Open champion Rafter missing due to a
shoulder
injury.
For the quarter-final
Tie against the United States in Boston, Australia
lost Philippoussis
to injury, with an untried 18-year-old Lleyton Hewitt brought
in for his
debut. And the Woodies, who had been the backbone of the
Australian
team for almost a decade, and who had won 10 consecutive Cup
matches
as a team, did not take the court together. With Woodbridge citing
poor form
and a crisis of confidence for his withdrawal, Sandon Stolle was
brought
in to partner Woodforde.
In the semi-final
against Russia on grass in Brisbane, Australia headed
into the
Tie without its two highest-ranked singles players, and without its
five-time
Wimbledon winning combination, the Woodies. But with Hewitt
manfully
shouldering the burden of being Australia's stand-in No.1, and
28-year-old
rookie left-hander Arthurs serving up a storm, the Australians
ran away
with the Tie 4-1.
The other
issue confronting Australia next year is which doubles
combination
will replace the Woodies should Mark Woodforde act on his strong hint to
step down
from national duties. With Todd Woodbridge expected to stay on,
selectors
may look to pair him with Arthurs to achieve a preferred
right-hand
left-hand combination.
Arthurs,
along with regular Aussie partner Andrew Kratzmann, was the
best-performed
Australian doubles player on clay this season, and finished
the year
ranked in the Top 30. He demonstrated in Brisbane that he has the
nerve to
succeed under Davis Cup pressure. And if he's in the starting
four-man
team, he could be a handy singles back-up, particularly on grass,
if one of
Australia's singles players suffers and injury and needs to be
replaced.
TEN: "TEAM
SCUD" HOPES PUBLIC EMBRACE PHILIPPOUSSIS
By Trevor
Marshallsea
NICE, France,
Dec 6 AAP - Mark Philippoussis' father Nick and manager Tom
Ross said
the young Melburnian's chequered Davis Cup past should be
forgotten
following his starring role in the Davis Cup triumph.
Ross said
he hoped the public would wholly embrace Philippoussis, while his
father insisted
all the ups and downs of his Davis Cup past were now
buried.
"Now it's
water under the bridge," said Greek-born Nick after his son had
wrapped
up the final against France by beating Cedric Pioline in four sets,
to follow
his straight sets win over Sebastien Grosjean on day one.
"He plays
for his country, he plays for his team-mates and for every
Australian."
Philippoussis'
relations with the Davis Cup establishment hit rock bottom
last year
after his falling out with captain John Newcombe and coach Tony
Roche, when
Philippoussis said the pair should have given him more support
when his
father was diagnosed with cancer.
Philippoussis
angered his team-mates by declaring himself unavailable for
last year's
first round tie with Zimbabwe in Mildura and then turning up to
watch what
turned out to be a debacle for the Aussies.
Ross said
the Australian public may not have forgotten the controversies of
Philippoussis'
career.
"But I think
people appreciate his continued effort and dedication, and the
fact that
he's young," he said.
"He's a sympathic
figure in many ways, and I think people want to embrace
him, and
I think we'll see that in Australia in January.
"I think
this victory says a lot about his perseverance, after Mark's
dedication
may not have been apparent early on.
"As Mark
said himself, there were mistakes, some miscalculations, but at
the end
of the day this was a well deserved result all the way round, for John
and Tony
for sticking with him, for Mark to admit his mistakes of the past
and make
the most of the opportunity here."
Nick Philippoussis
said he was immensely proud of his son "not just now but
from the
first day that he was born".
He said he
had executed better in other matches, such as his straight sets
win over
Pete Sampras at the 1996 Australian Open, but that he had "proved
himself
a man" with his composure today.
"The way
he conducted himself today under the pressure of a Davis Cup final
was fantastic,"
he said.
"Everyone
can play tennis, but to play tennis like that in France, with
this crowd
against you is fantastic."
NICE, France,
Dec 6 (Reuters) - After
Australia's first title of the 1990s,
John Newcombe's
team is already looking forward to playing the only team with
a better
Davis Cup record - the United States - in the first final of the new
millennium.
A 3-2 victory
against the French at the weekend landed the Australians their
27th title
despite Mark Philippoussis, their singles hero in Nice, and number
one Pat
Rafter missing two of the four rounds.
But with
John McEnroe taking over as captain of the American team, and Pete
Sampras
and Andre Agassi rejoining the fold, the United States will
definitely
be favourites next year even if Rafter is fit enough to play
alongside
Philippoussis.
``For the
last two weeks I've already been thinking about our defence of the
trophy next
year,'' said Newcombe.
``In the
first round we play Switzerland in Switzerland. If we win we should
play the
other three matches at home with a possible final against the United
States.
``Perhaps
Sampras and Agassi in Melbourne next December - that's something we
really want
to experience.''
Team captain
Newcombe played in a winning Australian team four times
including
a 5-0 rout of the United States in Cleveland in 1973, but the
Americans
still have a better Davis Cup record with 31 victories.
Newcombe
and coach Tony Roche have breathed new life into the Australian team
and handled
Philippoussis well after his acrimonious split with the team in
1998 which
saw him ostracised by fellow Australians.
He played
superbly in the final to beat Sebastien Grosjean and then Cedric
Pioline,
the highest ranked player here, in the decisive singles on a clay
surface
that was picked to exploit perceived weaknesses in the giant
Australian's
game.
Teenager
Lleyton Hewitt was the decisive factor in the semifinal win over
Russia but
was taught a lesson by Pioline in how to play a five-set match in
his opening
singles. But he remains Australia's great hope for the future.
France failed
in their attempt to win a third title as underdogs in the
1990s. Their
future is uncertain, as it was after their remarkable win over
the United
States in Lyon in 1991 and their upset victory against Sweden in
Malmo in
1996.
They had
to fight off relegation immediately after both triumphs and work
their way
back to the top, but it is to their immense credit that they did so
without
elite players.
``We're not
world champions, French players don't win tournaments every
fortnight,
and we don't have the world number two, three, four or five to
make up
our team,'' captain Guy Forget said.
Pioline,
world number 13, said he often felt all but alone in this season's
Davis Cup
battles. His importance to the team was demonstrated by the
Philippoussis
defeat being his first in a live rubber this year.
``It would
be great if one or two players progressed and were stable at this
level so
I had someone really solid to lean on, to make it easier,'' Pioline
said after
his defeat.
Forget said:
``W all progressed together and we can still improve.'' But he
knows the
next step could hardly be tougher with a first round match away in
Brazil on
clay.
And of course..if
you want to check out some other material..there's always the Official
Homepage
of the Davis Cup: http://www.daviscup.org
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