Philippoussis crashes out at Shanghai - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Philippoussis crashes out at Shanghai

By Christopher Bodeen 29/09/2004 05:38:00 AM Comments (0)

Australian Mark Philippoussis' woeful season continued when he was ousted from the first round of the Shanghai Open by unheralded American Glenn Weiner.

Philippoussis, the defending champion, hasn't won a match since the fourth round at Wimbledon, with the 3-6 6-4 6-4 loss his fifth straight defeat.

"It was a terrible day out there," said fourth-seeded Philippoussis.

"I wasn't hitting the ball well at all. I pretty much beat myself out there."

Eighth seed Jan-Michael Gambill, the only other seeded player in action, had better luck when he beat Ivo Klec of Germany 6-4 6-3. Klec had qualified into his first ATP tournament.

Philippoussis, hampered by injuries, has watched his world ranking plummet from No.9 to No.76 this season.

Following his first match since the US Open, where he retired in the first round with a hip injury, the 2003 Wimbledon runner-up said felt fine physically but couldn't put a finger on what was troubling his game.

"I'm just taking it a week at a time and hoping to finish on a positive note," he said.

He started well against South African-born Weiner but veered off course in the second set, and was broken in the seventh game of the third.

"I kept it close and he lost concentration," said Weiner, who admitted he hadn't even looked at the draw past the first round after seeing he would play Philippoussis.

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news