Former Champion Philippoussis Launches Comeback With Wild Card
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© Getty ImagesMark Philippoussis won the Stella Artois
title in 1997.
Former champion Mark Philippoussis will launch his tennis
comeback at the Stella Artois Championships after receiving
a wild card into the event that takes place at the Queen's
Club, 6-12, June.
Philippoussis, who won the title in 1997 with victory over
Goran Ivanisevic in the final, joins defending champion
Andy Roddick, three-time winner Lleyton Hewitt, and Britain's
Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski in the singles main draw.
It will be an important week in the career of the 28-year-old
Australian. After reaching the Wimbledon final just under
two years ago, he has endured a torrid time with injuries
in 2005. Forced to pull out of the Australian Open at the
start of the year because of a torn adductor muscle, he
then withdrew from his second round match in Miami in March
because of a left ankle injury. He has not played since.
At his best, Philippoussis is a match for anyone on grass,
as his run to the Wimbledon final in 2003 demonstrated.
That year, he beat Andre Agassi on his way to the final.
But the competition at the Stella Artois Championships in
2005 will be tougher than ever, with Croatian Mario Ancic
- a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, 18-year-old French
sensation Richard Gasquet, and Sebastien Grosjean - a finalist
of both of the past two years - also in the field.
Finals day at the 2005 Stella Artois Championships will
also feature a special challenge match between John McEnroe
and Boris Becker to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Becker's
big breakthrough. It will be the first time that they have
ever played each other on a grass court.
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