Philippoussis v Gimelstob in Newport FinalPosted on July 16, 2006 Wild card Mark Philippoussis advanced to his first final in 33 months (Shanghai 2003) as the big-serving Australian defeated Jurgen Melzer 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-0 in one hour, 48 minutes at the Campbell's Hall of Fame Championships in Newport.
Philippoussis, who notched his 50th grass court win in his career (50-23), is looking to claim his first title since Shanghai 2003 (then an International Series event). "I was disappointed to play a poor tiebreaker but I forgot about it pretty quickly," Philippoussis said. "Just play a point at a time." The former World No.8 has 10 ATP titles under his belt but currently lies No.214 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings. In today's match the 2003 Wimbledon finalist won 87 percent of the points in his first serve and broke Melzer in five of 10 opportunities while never facing a break point. In the final, Philippoussis will face No.8 seed Justin Gimelstob, who upset top seed Andy Murray 6-1, 7-6(4) in one hour, 30 minutes. The American is in the final of an ATP event for the first time in his career after participating in 153 ATP/Grand Slam level events. He holds a 12-13 record in 2006 having reached the quarterfinals in Estoril (clay) earlier this season. Philippoussis has a 2-1 edge over Gimelstob in their head-to-head series with the last meeting taking place in Los Angeles in 2000. -- ATP |
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