Philippoussis sweeps past gracious Chang

MELBOURNE, JAN 15: Australian Mark Philippoussis deployed sizzling forehands and courtside antics to beat American Michael Chang today, p...

MELBOURNE, JAN 15: Australian Mark Philippoussis deployed sizzling forehands and courtside antics to beat American Michael Chang today, putting him into the finals of a tune-up event for next week8217;s Australian Open.

Philippoussis, defending champion of the Colonial Classic exhibition at Kooyong, fought back from a tie break loss to win 6-7 2-7, 7-5, 6-3, setting up a final against 18th ranked Thomas Enqvist of Sweden.

The match slipped from Chang after Philippoussis engineered a courtside distraction, stealing a sweet from a spectator as the American was poised to level the second set at 6-6.

Serving at 40-30 but ever gracious, Chang gave his opponent time to gulp the candy down with a glass of water, then promptly lost the next three points to hand Philippoussis the first break of the match.

In other action, Croatian Goran Ivanisevic dropped out of the eight-man exhibition, nursing a pinched nerve in his back ahead of the year8217;s first Grand Slam tournament.

He was replaced by 86th ranked MikaelTillstrom of Sweden who defeated jet-lagged Briton Tim Henman, the world8217;s number seven, 7-5 6-1, and was scheduled to play an invitation match against Philippoussis8217; compatriot Patrick Rafter tomorrow.

Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov rebounded to crush Czech Petr Korda 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Davenport-Hingis showdown

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SYDNEY: Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis set up a pre-Melbourne showdown today with semifinal victories in a warm-up tournament.

But their performances at the Sydney International gave few clues away before the year8217;s first Grand Slam event, where defending champion Hingis will be hoping to topple Davenport from the top of the rankings.

In the first men8217;s semifinal, American Todd Martin was in devastating form, blasting past gritty former world number one Thomas Muster 6-2, 6-1 in just 53 minutes.

World number one Davenport was patient and effective, but still well short of last season8217;s best, as she ousted comeback queen Steffi Graf 6-2, 7-5 on a sweltering Sydney summer day.

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Inthe other semifinal, Hingis just held her nerve to see off a surprisingly fierce challenge from Barbara Schett 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 7-5.

Top seed defaults

HOBART: Fifth seed Chanda Rubin of the United States advanced to the final of the Tasmanian International women8217;s tennis tournament today when top seed Julie Halard-Decugis withdrew because of injury.

Frenchwoman Halard-Decugis pulled out of the tournament before their scheduled semifinal, complaining of a mild abdominal strain.

That left Rubin to play in today8217;s title decider against the winner of the later semifinal between American Amy Frazier and Italy8217;s Rita Grande.