and with no pain."
Philippoussis, who has struggled with
multiple knee surgeries in the last few
years, converted on his fourth
match-point opportunity against Ferreira
in the Champions Tie-Break, played in
lieu of a third set. He jumped to a 3-0
lead in the first set, but was broken
back in the seventh game, before losing
the first-set in a 7-3 tie-breaker. In
the second set, Philippoussis and
Ferreira exchanged breaks in the first
seven games, before Philippoussis broke
for a 5-3 lead, evening the match two
games later with the 6-4 second-set win.
Philippoussis, 32, is playing in his
third career Outback Champions Series
event and said Thursday he still holds
out hope of one day returning to the ATP
Tour. He said is main goal for the week
is to physically get through the
tournament without pain and trouble with
his knee.
"My ambition still is to get back on
the tour," said Philippoussis, the 2003
Wimbledon finalist who last played
against ATP level competition at the
2007 Hopman Cup mixed team event in
Perth, Australia. "It's been tough with
my injury because I have been unable to
get fit enough to play competitive
tennis."
Following knee surgery in early 2007,
Philippoussis returned to competitive
tournament tennis at the Outback
Champions Series event in Dallas in
2007, losing the third-place match to
John McEnroe. His only other Outback
Champions Series tournament came earlier
this year when he finished with a 1-2
round-robin record in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. He will next play the winner of
Friday’s quarterfinal match between
defending champion Jim Courier and
Mikael Pernfors of Sweden.
Ferreira expressed disappointment in
the result and not being able to have
another chance to win the title in Grand
Cayman after losing last year’s final to
Courier.
"It's disappointing after being so
successful last year and of course it's
always tough to lose a close match,"
said the South African. "I went down
fast in the first two sets. I had a slow
start. Last year, I was able to play
though the wind and this year I found it
more difficult."
For the second straight year, Arias
was able to post a big match-victory in
Grand Cayman with his win over Wilander.
Last year, Arias posted his first
tournament match victory of any kind
against John McEnroe en route to a
third-place finish, his best career
result on the Outback Champions Series.
"I came on the court with
confidence," said Arias of his win over
Wilander. "I’m a local. I’ve played on
this court a million times. What was
strange, the wind was blowing but not on
my side of the court. Everything went my
way, even when Mats got a point, I
fought for it to be taken away."
The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton,
Grand Cayman Legends Championships
features a field of eight champion
players competing in a single knock-out
format event, vying for $150,000 in
prize money and ranking points that
determine the year-end No. 1 on the
Outback Champions Series. Ticket, travel
and tournament information can be found
by visiting
