Matuse Family: Mark Philippoussis

Dear Matuse Family,

Boston was a fun week and my first time visiting the city. I didn’t know but was surprised on how similar it was to my hometown Melbourne (Australia). The weather ended up being amazing but unfortunately I didn’t have the time to walk around and check out this gorgeous city.

I was invited to play a Champion Series Event which I was very exited about because it had an amazing field of players. Tennis legend Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Mats Wilander, Milael Pernfors, Jimmy Arias and Wayne Ferreira were all participating. The best thing about it is that they are all great guys so it makes the whole week that much better.

Before the event started I had a few appearances which I always enjoy. Kids day, pro ams and hitting with and meeting the sponsors. My first match was again Wayne Ferreira which is always a tough match. I won that 6/3, 6/2 and was happy with the way I played. The second one was going to be tougher because I was playing Jim Courier. He’s still playing some great tennis and hitting the ball well. The score was 4/6, 7/6, 10/6 (third set is a champions tie break first to 10). This was a fun match to play and I was happy that I was still hitting the ball well.

Now it’s finals day and I’m playing John McEnroe (I want to kick his ass because he was talking a little crap before the match). First set was 6/3 and I was up 5-0 but took my foot off the gas. I lost the second set 4/6 which I wasn’t happy about. Now 3rd set was the champions tie break and I didn’t want to lose to him (I wouldn’t hear the end of it otherwise). I played a great breaker and won it 10/5 along with bragging rights.

So that’s pretty much it for my week in Boston. I visited a great city, played well, hung with great people and pocketed some coin. It’s good to be back home in San Diego. I can’t wait to get into the water and surf the next South Swell.

Mark P.

To check out the official Champions Series website visit: http://www.championsseriestennis.com/