Mark Philippoussis beat Justin Gimelstob 6-3, 7-5 in the Hall of Fame Championships final to win his first ATP tennis title in almost three years.Philippoussis, a 29-year-old Australian, didn’t drop serve in 54 games at the tournament in Newport, Rhode Island, to become the first wild card entrant to win the grass-court event.
Philippoussis, a former Wimbledon and U.S. Open finalist, ousted four seeded players on the way to picking up his 11th career title and first since winning the Heineken Open in Shanghai in September 2003.
“It’s tough to look back and compare,” Philippoussis told reporters. “A whole lot has happened between now and then, but I don’t see that much difference in my game.”
Gimelstob had never reached an ATP final in 153 attempts before upsetting top seed Andy Murray 6-1, 7-6 in the semifinals.
In other ATP tournaments, seventh-seeded Richard Gasquet beat Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-3 to win the Swiss Open in Gstaad. It was the 20-year-old Frenchman’s third career title.
No. 2 seed Tommy Robredo upset top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-1 in the Swedish Open final in Bastad for his fourth career title.
Couretesy of
Dan Baynes in Sydney
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