Shanghai, Sept 28: Third seed Mark Philippoussis crushed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-1 today to win the 380,000-dollar ATP tournament in Shanghai. The big-serving Australian needed only 45 minutes to smash the powerful tournament top seed, relying on his usual combination of aces -- nine in the match -- solid ground strokes and net play.
"I was aggressive out there today in all parts of my game -- I didn't want him dictating the points -- and I came out swinging," said the 27-year old.
"I put him on the back foot from the word go," he said. The victory gave the Wimbledon finalist his first triumph since Memphis in early 2001, helping him climb to ninth in the ATP champions race from his current 15th.
The very fast hard court seemed to suit Philippoussis, who said he had been feeling comfortable on all week, despite a late arrival here following his loss to Switzerland's Roger Federer in the Davis Cup.
During Sunday's final, the usually consistent Czech saw his steady style fall apart as he committed a litany of unforced errors and shot after shot sailed wide or into the net. Novak's trouble began in the fifth game of the first set, as the "scud" caught the world number 12 off guard with a couple of drop shots to give him a break and a 6-2 win.
Things only got worse in the second set for Novak and Philippoussis closed out the match easily 6-1, to take an overall 2-1 match lead in their rivalry. Bureau Report