Los Angeles, July 30: Fifth seed Mark Philippoussis cruised past Australian compatriot Adam Kennedy 6-3 6-2 to reach the second round of the 380,000 ATP Los Angeles event.
The hard serving Philippoussis closed out the one-hour match with an ace, one of 12 he registered against Kennedy.
"No doubt my game is coming together," said Philippoussis, who reached the final of Wimbledon last month. "I like to think I am intimidating out there."
The 26-year-old Melbourne native broke Kennedy's serve in the third and seventh games of the second set. He sealed the win with three aces in a final game that lasted less than three minutes.
"I had better rhythm toward the end," said Philippoussis. "As the match went on I felt like I could read his serve better. I played well today."



After his success at Wimbledon, Philippoussis took a week off to do some surfing, a sport he just took up just eight months ago.



"It helps me stay in shape. It is good exercise," said Philippoussis, who was named by People magazine as one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" two years ago.



Philippoussis, who has nine ATP singles titles since turning pro in 1994, missed three months of 2002 with knee injury.



"It has been over a year that i have been healthy now ... Knock on wood," he said.



Philippoussis may play in the second round against American Michael Chang who was scheduled to face Zach Fleishman.


Bureau Report