Philippoussis Captures Title Despite ‘Loss’ To Young Ballgirl

Mark Philippoussis, showing he could be a factor at Wimbledon, beat Goran Ivanisevic 7-5, 6-3 to win the Queen’s Club title in London, leaving his opponent so exasperated he handed his racket to a ballgirl.

A 20-year-old Australian with the game’s fastest serve, Philippoussis never faltered in his 53-minute victory over the Croatian, also one of tennis’ biggest guns.

Philippoussis had 15 aces, finishing the tournament with 91, in his third win this year and his fourth in nine months. Ivanisevic, a two-time Wimbledon runner-up, had 12 aces.

Virtually the only entertainment in the match came in the seventh game of the second set when Ivanisevic walked over and gave his racket to 14-year-old ball girl Amy Kavanagh.

Coaxed to take the court and cheered on by fans, she returned a lob from Philippoussis and then won the make-believe point when the Australian kicked the ball into the net. The rally lasted for a dozen exchanges - much longer than anything in the match itself.

“I wasn’t frustrated, but I just wanted to change something,” said Ivanisevic, one of the free spirits on the ATP Tour. “She won the point, I won the next one and that’s about as close as I got.”

Yevgeny Kafelnikov fought off three match points to beat Petr Korda and claim the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany. Kafelnikov, the top seed, beat the Czech 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (9-7) and collect $122,000 from a purse of $875,000.

Tired French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten ran out of steam in the Carisbo International tournament in Bologna, Italy, dropping the championship match to Felix Mantilla.

After winning the first set 6-4, the Brazilian went down 6-2, 6-1 to the Spaniard, the No. 2 seed in the $328,000 clay court event.

Nathalie Tauziat of France recovered from a set down to beat Yayuk Basuki 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 and win the $164,250 DFS Classic in Birmingham, England.