Lead up articles

Scud unlikely starter for Davis Cup
6: 41 PM AEST December 27 (Excite Australia)

Mark Philippoussis is unlikely to play in the Davis Cup first-round tie
against Ecuador while he focuses on his individual goal of making the men's
top five.

However, he has not closed the door on the prestigious international team's
event.

The "doubtful" verdict came from Scud's coach Peter McNamara and Australian
Davis Cup coach Wally Masur, who teamed up as doubles partners in Perth today
for a "legends" tournament in breezeless 39.5 degree heat.

McNamara and Masur said the 11th-ranked men's player in the world had met
Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald to discuss his possible participation in
the February tie in Perth.

Philippoussis had indicated he would likely miss the round and McNamara said
the Scud had already planned a string of commitments overseas.

"But the door has been left open for Davis Cup and I'm sure you'll see Mark
Philippoussis play Davis Cup in the near future," he told AAP.

"I can't categorically rule out that he's not going to play (in February) but
I would say it's doubtful.

"Chances are he won't."

McNamara said he was looking at Philippoussis' future as a professional
tennis player "and if Davis Cup comes into the equation as being relevant and
positive for Mark then he will play.

"If it's not positive and there's too many negatives involved, then the
situation is detrimental to his future and therefore he wouldn't play.

"We have to think a lot through before he accepts to play in a tie but the
door's been left open and they haven't seen the last of Mark Philippoussis.

"I think there's nothing better than to have a Rafter-Hewitt-Philippoussis
team because I don't think there's any stronger in the world."

Masur conceded today that Philippoussis was "probably not going to be
available for the first tie" but said he would nonetheless study his form
closely in coming weeks.

Masur talks Scud compromise
By: JOHN THIRSK
24dec00 (news.com.au-The Sunday Telegraph)

NEW Davis Cup coach Wally Masur has revealed he will accept the situation if
Mark Philippoussis does not make himself available for all ties next year.

"I don't think Fitzy (captain John Fitzgerald) and I are too far away from
patching up differences with Mark," Masur said.

"We are not going to condemn anybody, Mark or others, if they don't want to
play Davis Cup, or if it doesn't suit them to play a particular tie.

"Firstly, we have to create a good environment for the players that when they
do play Davis Cup, they enjoy it."

Masur believes Philippoussis has an agenda and Davis Cup has not always been
right at the top of his priorities.

"We can't sit on the side and judge people about what is right or wrong," he
said.

"That's not our job.

"Our job over the next few years is to get to know the players under the most
stressful situations.

"Hopefully, they will come to respect and get to know us and enjoy themselves
playing for their country.

"I think our job is more persuasion and for Mark to say that he 'can't wait
to play again' makes me happy, because we would love him to be part of the
team."

Masur is also optimistic Philippoussis's new coach, Peter McNamara, will not
prevent his charge from playing Davis Cup.

McNamara, a former Davis Cup hero, has stated his commitment to Philippoussis
is to lift him into the world top five at the expense of representing his
country.

"Peter was pro Davis Cup, always made himself available and played singles
and doubles," Masur said.

"I understand it's a priority for Peter to get Mark into the top five, but I
wouldn't be surprised if along the way Peter would be happy for Mark to play
Davis Cup."

Masur said Fitzgerald had just begun contacting players to find out their
availability for the first-round tie against Ecuador at Royal King's Park,
Perth, in February.

"We have to find out what their tournament schedule is and where they are
putting Davis Cup in their list of priorities," Masur said.

"I know some of the players are keen about a commitment for the whole year
but we are not putting a hard line on that just yet.

"We want to get a few people into the fold first.

"Hopefully, if they can play a few matches under us, enjoy the experience,
then they will be willing to play throughout the year.

"I couldn't condemn Lleyton, given the year he's had, if we were to play
Ecuador away from home and he won the Australian Open and said he couldn't
get on the plane because he was exhausted.

"I could fully understand that.

"I'm aware the number of matches these guys play each year and I don't think
people understand the rigours of travelling and what it's like to play
professional tennis.

"We just want to instil a sense of pride and sense of history of what it
means playing for Australia, just like John (Newcombe) and Tony (Roche) did."

Asked if picking the best sqaud was a matter of 'sitting on the fence', Masur
replied: "Yeah, we can. Absolutely.

"It does happen through injury that a player cannot play every tie.

"I don't think it's likely to happen that Hewitt, Rafter and Philippoussis
all will be available for every tie.

"That's the ideal team, the strongest team in the world."

Seven Years in Tennis Heaven
Sydney's Daily Telegraph
16 December 2000

After seven years at the helm of Australia's Davis Cup team, captain John
Newcombe reflects on the highs and lows of the job and our tennis future.

It was disappointing to lose the Davis Cup final to Spain in such
controversial circumstances but I still regard my seven years with the
Australian team as among the happiest and most rewarding I have had in tennis.

My initial reactions in Barcelona when the final shot was played were
probably sadness, because we lost, and disillusionment with the crowd
behaviour.

However, Davis Cup tennis is bigger and better than all that and I will put
it behind me, although I think Spain is in for a major awakening when it
plays matches overseas.

It won the Cup this year in very convenient circumstances after a dream draw
and playing the final at home on the players' favourite surface.

I doubt they will ever encounter such favourable conditions again.

I look back on what was achieved during the time Tony Roche and I were in
charge of the Australian team and I am very comfortable.

We got off to a shaky start in 1994 and 1995 when we were eliminated in the
first round both years, but things improved after that and we were on our way
to winning the final against France in 1999 and making the final in 2000.

One aspect of our involvement of which Tony and I are very proud is the
number of players who made their Cup debuts while we were in charge.

Players such as Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis, Pat Rafter and Wayne
Arthurs all came through the development ranks.

I suppose the question I have been asked most in my time as captain -
especially in the last couple of years - is: What about Mark Philippoussis?
Is he selfish? Is he arrogant? Why won't he play for Australia? Why does he
say he will play and then he drops out?

I can honestly say I have never had a personal problem with Mark or his
father Nick. I think whatever has been said has come from the other side.

I have never breathed one word of complaint about Mark - and never intend to.

But I do admit to thinking it would be great for Mark and great for
Australia, if he did make himself available for Cup selection.

Obviously we are a much stronger team with one of the world's best players to
our line-up.

In fact Mark might have made the difference between winning and losing to
Spain last week.

He was a match winner for Australia when we beat France in 1999 and he would
have given us valuable options against Spain.

Still there is no point talking about what might have been. It is more
important to look to the future and hope Mark makes a permanent decision
about his commitment to Australia and the Davis Cup.

I will not deny that Mark added to the pressure on the team because of his
uncertainty about his availability.

When it first started happening and the other players blew up, I would act as
peacemaker and try and calm things done and not let Mark's behaviour become
an issue.

However, it was stretching my relationships with the other players to make
them go along with the uncertainty without saying anything publicly.

On one hand we had players like Rafter and Hewitt who were totally committed
and one player who wouldn't commit all the time.

Finally this year the players demanded an end to the instability and they
said "We've had enough."

I think Australia's future in the Davis Cup looks brighter than it has for
years - but the search for winning doubles combination is a serious concern
now that the Woodies have been separated by Mark Woodforde's retirement.

I think Pat Rafter has about three years left as a world ranked player,
provided he maintains peak fitness.

Lleyton is another player under something of an injury cloud. If he stays
healthy, he could win four or five grand slam titles, maybe more.

Next year could be a tough one for him because his illness has been a drain
on his body strength.

What we need to do is find another Lleyton Hewitt in our junior program and
fast track him into senior tennis as quickly as possible.

It is not easy coping with the early pressure of suddenly being propelled
into the media spotlight and expectations about your performances are
sometimes abnormally high.

Australia can be enormously proud of what Lleyton Hewitt has achieved in his
career.

So far Lleyton has unflinchingly met every challenge that has come his way on
the tennis court and every match has been part of the learning curve.

To me, he typifies Australian grit and determination when he plays, because
he refuses to surrender and chases every shot.

I think the Australian public feels the same way.

I also see his as the backbone of Australia's Davis Cup team for years to
come.

If Mark Philippoussis can get himself together and consistently produce his
best tennis, he could easily make the worlds top six - but it is all about
his commitment and him not compromising his ability, or his attitude, to hard
training.

I will be watching his progress with great personal interest although the
responsibility for the Davis Cup team has now officially been handed over to
John Fitsgerald and Wally Masur.

I cannot think of two men more suited to the job of maintaining Australia's
high profile in the Davis Cup.

For Tony and I, the party's over - at least for the moment - but we enjoyed
every magical moment.
END

Best team in the world with Scud, says Masur
(SportsToday)

By Will Swanton SYDNEY, Dec 14 AAP - John Fitzgerald and Wally Masur believe
Australia will field the best Davis Cup team in the world next year if Mark
Philippoussis makes himself available.

It's a big if, but a conversation with Pat Rafter in Barcelona has convinced
Masur that the enigmatic Philippoussis will represent his country again. The
big-serving world No.11, who has missed Cup ties in the past because of
injury and fallouts with John Newcombe and Tony Roche, will receive a phone
call from Fitzgerald before Christmas to discuss his availability.

Fitzgerald and Masur officially replaced Newcombe and Roche as captain and
coach today and will start their on-court duties against Ecuador in Perth in
February.

"The best team in the world, best team in the world on any surface," said
Masur when asked how strong Australia would be with Philippoussis.

"Agassi, Sampras, I don't care ... it's the best team in the world."

Masur said a softly-softly approach would be taken with Philippoussis, who
beat Cedric Pioline to win Australia the Cup last year but missed last
weekend's 3-1 loss to Spain.

"We've only just started the job so we've got to get to know the players and
develop a relationship with them before we make any grandiose statements
about who's in and who's out," he said.

"There was some trouble when Pat made some comments after Wimbledon, that if
Mark didn't want to be in the team they didn't want him in, and I had a chat
with Pat last week.

"He said `look, we actually spent a bit of time with Mark during the indoor
season, he watched some of our matches and we watched some of his.'

"It seems to me there will come a time when Mark Philippoussis plays Davis
Cup again but how we put a time and date on it, that's a hard thing to do."

Australia's strongest squad would rotate Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt and
Philippoussis in singles, with the third playing doubles with either Todd
Woodbridge or Sandon Stolle.

"Wally and I want to make it clear that our door is open to all Australian
players and we want them there," said Fitzgerald at the announcement of a $2
million sponsorship deal between Tennis Australia and Cable and Wireless
Optus.

"When I talk to Mark for the first time it will be to find out how he feels
... you either want to play for Australia or you don't."

Philippoussis has been dogged by injuries in recent years, missing a number
of ATP tournaments as well as Davis Cup ties, and Fitzgerald said he couldn't
be blamed for that.

"What you have to be aware of is that players are all different - they have
different ages, different issues, different backgrounds, and they have
different bodies and injury problems," he said.

"Some players are inclined to be more injured than others.

"It's up to the captain and coach to form a relationship with them so that
you've got an open and honest relationship, mutual trust and you've got to be
able to talk about things."

The sponsorship deal means Australia's tennis teams - including Davis Cup,
Fed Cup, Junior Davis Cup, Junior Fed Cup and national age teams - will be
united under the Tennis Australia banner.

Fitzy wants Scud back in the cup fold
By LINDA PEARCE-BARCELONA
Tuesday 12 December 2000 (SportsToday-The Age)

Incoming Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald has yet to say whether his players
will be able to pick and choose which ties they contest or if they must
commit to the full year of competition.

But he will seek a pre-Christmas meeting with Mark Philippoussis to determine
the estranged team member's intentions for 2001.

Philippoussis missed Australia's weekend 3-1 loss to Spain in the Davis Cup
final, completed by Lleyton Hewitt's brave four-set loss to Juan Carlos
Ferrero in the first reverse singles.

But Fitzgerald, who is succeeding John Newcombe, said his own commitment was
to try to select the best possible squad for every tie.

Having finished the year at No.11 in the world, Philippoussis is due back in
Melbourne next week from his home in Florida, well aware of the Australians'
plight in Barcelona on similar red clay to that which hosted Philippoussis'
almost single-handed destruction of France in the 1999 final in Nice.

His latest coach, Peter McNamara, has said that Philippoussis would do "what
suits Mark Philippoussis" next year, and that could well mean no return to
national colors despite the baton change from Newcombe and Tony Roche to
Fitzgerald and Wally Masur.

Australia plays Ecuador on Perth grass in February, with a possible away
quarter-final on clay against Brazil to follow. "We don't have much time
before we have to play again, so I will talk to Mark shortly," said
Fitzgerald, who worked as a Channel Seven commentator during the final.
"We'll chat face to face. We just have to find out each other's feelings.

"All players of that calibre are obviously very important. You can't help but
want a player like that in the team.

"You've got to do what's right for the team and some of those decisions are
the responsibility of the captain at certain times. You want to have the
strongest team you can for every tie, and you want an honest and open
relationship with every player."

Fitzgerald said he had been unwilling to intrude on Newcombe's patch until
the final was over, and so had been unable to gauge the feelings of the rest
of the Australian players. Hewitt and Pat Rafter were particularly vocal
after Philippoussis withdrew from the semi against Brazil, saying they wanted
to retain the same team for the final, although the Philippoussis-Rafter
relationship has apparently thawed since then.

Asked whether he would expect all players to commit for the entire year,
Fitzgerald said: "It's a good question, because I think you have to be aware
that players are a bit different.

"They have different body shapes, they have different physiques, and certain
players get injured more, whereas some players can run all day of the year,
and not get injured.

"There's a lot of different things that come into the equation. I don't know
whether you need to accommodate anyone. I believe that all the players want
to play, and if they don't then I just want to know, so then you can go about
your business of picking the team.

"I haven't spoken to Mark yet, but I'm assuming he would like to play Davis
Cup, and I hope he does because I'd like him to, but I can't really speak for
the team yet, because I haven't really had a chance to sit down with them
yet. It hasn't been my place."

Mark Woodforde, who retired after Saturday's doubles loss with Sandon Stolle,
said it was impossible to ignore a player as talented as Philippoussis, and
advised Fitzgerald and Masur to try their best to engineer his return.

"I think if you can just get to him and get all the outside influences away
from him, just speak face to face, and hear it from him, hear it from the
horse's mouth," Woodforde said. "If he doesn't want to play, that's fine, we
have no problem with that. Don't chop and change, say you're going to play,
knowing that you're not, and make up an excuse that you're injured.

"I think our team is so much stronger and better if you have a guy like
Philippoussis playing. You have a choice of three singles players. I mean,
how rare is it to have three top-10 players in the one team? That's a huge,
huge advantage over a lot of other countries."

At least this is no longer Newcombe's problem. He ended seven years as
captain with one title, one relegation, and the pride and passion of
Australian Davis Cup tennis intact. He said the priority in the next two or
three years was to find and fast-track some young players to support Hewitt
while, hopefully, Rafter is still in the game.

END--http://www.theage.com.au/sport/2000/12/12/FFXS7211LGC.html

PERTH TO HOST 2001 DAVIS CUP CLASH AGAINST ECUADOR
Perth will play host to the 2001 Davis Cup by NEC first round encounter between Australia and 
Ecuador (February 9-11), Tennis Australia President, Geoff Pollard, announced today.
With John Fitzgerald and Wally Masur making their debuts as Davis Cup Team Captain and Coach, 
the grasscourts of Perth's Royal Kings Park, with a Centre Court capacity of 5540, will provide
the ideal setting for Western Australia's first Davis Cup Tie in almost 10 years.
"I am thrilled to announce Perth as the host city for next year's first round Davis Cup clash,"
Pollard said.
"In conjunction with the International Tennis Federation, Tennis Australia aims to bring 
world-class Davis Cup competition Australia-wide with cities including Adelaide, Brisbane and 
Sydney all staging events in recent years.
"Australia last played Davis Cup at Royal Kings Park in 1991, defeating Belgium by a stunning 
5-0 scoreline. It is fitting that Wally Masur, a member of that winning team, will return to Per
th in his new role as Davis Cup Coach."
Australia has never played Ecuador before in Davis Cup competition and next year's Tie marks the
South American nation's first encounter as part of the elite World Group. 

Australia's incoming Captain, John Fitzgerald, himself a member of champion Davis Cup teams in 
1983 and 1986, is looking forward to the challenge.
"Ecuador's Lapentti brothers (Nicolas & Giovani) have proven they have what it takes to defeat 
strong teams on grass, beating Great Britain in the World Group qualifying rounds on the grass 
at Wimbledon," Fitzgerald said. 
"The thrill of playing for your country in Davis Cup competition can definitely lift players to 
perform at their best, so I won't be underestimating the challenge which Ecuador poses."
But before the first round of the 2001 Davis Cup by NEC gets underway, Australia will attempt to
secure back-to-back titles in the 2000 Final against Spain in Barcelona (December 8-10) in what
will be John Newcombe and Tony Roche's last Tie as Davis Cup Captain and Coach 

AUSTRALIA LOOKING AT TOUGH SECOND ROUND TIE IN BRAZIL
By Trevor Marshallsea (SportCentral)

NEW YORK, Sept 7 AAP - Australia is in line for a tough second round Davis
Cup tie in Brazil next year, after the draw conducted here today.

Australia, which will play Spain in this year's final in Barcelona in
December, will play at home against newcomer Ecuador in the first round in
February, after winning the home court advantage through the drawing of lots.

But the new leadership team of captain John Fitzgerald and coach Wally Masur
will then almost certainly face the testing challenge of a second round tie
in April in Brazil, which plays at home to minnow Morocco in the first round.

Under Davis Cup rules, it will be Brazil's turn to host Australia, the South
Americans having played in Brisbane in the semi-final in July.

That was a 5-0 rout on grass for Australia, but meeting dual French Open
champion Gustavo Kuerten and company, almost certainly on clay, and in front
of a highly spirited Brazilian crowd, will be a considerably tougher
assignment.

Victory would project Australia into a semi-final, probably against Sweden at
home or Russia away.

Sweden plays at home to the Czech Republic in the first round, with Russia
away to Slovakia.

Australia and Spain are grouped as the top two seeds for next year's Cup.

Former Australian Davis Cup captain Neale Fraser said the new Aussie regime
would have its work cut out if forced to travel to Brazil.

"It will be a very tough match," Fraser said.

"Kuerten is one of the best players on any surface, but put him on clay and
he's a great athlete, and in Brazil he'll be even better.

"Still, it's nice for the new guys (Fitzerald and Masur) to get their first
tie in Australia."

Tennis Australia will call on each state to make submissions to host the
first rounder against Ecuador, which upset Britain on grass in qualification
in July. The tie will be played from February 9-11.

The home team was drawn by lot, since the two countries have never met
before.

In the bottom half of the world group draw, the winner out of Spain and the
Netherlands will play either Germany or Romania in the second round, while
the victor out of USA and Switzerland plays either France or Belgium.
END

"Fitzgerald debut likely in Perth" by Linda Pearce