Court magic
HICHAM Arazi produced a magical display on Rod Laver Arena to end Mark Philippoussis's Australian Open hopes. Expecting a routine win for the "Scud", thousands of Australians flocked to Melbourne Park on Australia Day but were left as bewitched as Philippoussis by Arazi's performance.
The Moroccan delivered an array of astonishing groundstrokes on his way to a shock 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory. Arazi will play Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-finals.
The key to Arazi's fourth-round win was his ability to break the Australian's serve five times while Philippoussis failed to convert any of his 10 break points. Philippoussis' game unravelled with five double-faults and 38 unforced errors to Arazi's 10. "Today, unfortunately, he didn't play his best tennis," said Arazi.
Philippoussis credited his opponent for a faultless display. "The guy was much too good today, he was flawless and he took advantage of his break points. There was not much I could do," he said. "He was just on, he's very talented, he hits the ball so cleanly and he looked so comfortable out there and I couldn't do anything to put him off."
