At various other times, it has been either Tony Roche, the Australian Davis Cup coach, or
     John Newcombe, the Davis Cup captain. Now it is the most enigmatic figure in the game,
     Ion Tiriac, the Romanian banking mogul, political figure of influence, tournament promoter
     and player-manager.

     In an announcement last week, Nick Philippoussis said he would be winding back his
     involvement in Mark's career, which has seen him assume the incarnation of mentor,
     manager, and, where necessary, executioner, when the performances of former coaches
     like Peter McNamara, Nick Bollettieri and Gavin Hopper failed to meet his expectations.

     In so doing, and with his choice, he has just made the already absorbing off-court saga of
     his son's career even more interesting.

     There are now three Philippoussis coaches: Hopper, who signed on again 12 months ago;
     Roche, who works with him at Davis Cup ties and grand slams as part of his contract
     with Tennis Australia; and Bollettieri, who parted company with the then-rising star in
     acrimonious circumstances in April, 1996.

     And there are two Philippoussis management groups. One of them, Advantage
     International, has a three-year contract with Philippoussis which expires at the end of this
     year. The other is Tiriac, formerly the adviser to, and svengali, for Ilie Nastase, Guillermo
     Vilas, Boris Becker and now Goran Ivanisevic.

     Tiriac also owns and runs men's and women's tournaments in Stuttgart and Leipzig in
     Germany. In the latter capacity, he was instrumental in the laying of tax avoidance
     charges against Peter Graf, the father of former women's No1 Steffi, when he alleged he
     had been forced to pay cash for her to appear in his tournament.

     From afar, Nick Philippoussis had seen all this and had thought, in the words of one
     observer, that Tiriac, was "a bit of a legend", and the ideal person to guide his son's career
     through its next stage and to keep a firm hand on those he regarded as working for Mark:
     the coaches, managers and even Tennis Australia.

     All of this took place in October-November of last year. At some point, then or since,
     Philippoussis senior received the news that he was in remission from the Hodgkins
     Lymphoma that he had been receiving treatment for throughout the year.

     FOR Mark Philippoussis, nicknamed the Scud, it will be a new year in every way,
     although one which began with echoes of January last year. Tendonitis in his right
     forearm forced him to withdraw from the-then Sydney International and Australian Open
     last year.

     This year, the shoulder ailment which forced him to resort to anti-inflammatories to get
     through three 1997 tournaments has flared again, prompting his withdrawal from the
     Australian hardcourt championships in Adelaide.

     Rest and equipment rehab appear to be making the difference this time. Among the
     adjustments Philippoussis will make to protect his right shoulder will be a reduction in the
     tension of his racquet strings, from the snare drum-tight 33-34 kilogram favoured by Pete
     Sampras, among very few others, to a slightly more forgiving 31-32kg.

     This will still be tighter than the standard touring pro's tension of choice, of around 30kg.

     In the meantime, however enthralling Philippoussis's on-court performances turn out to be,
     there will also be the innocent entertainment to be had from watching the jostling for
     position in the plum players' box seats alongside the centre court at Melbourne Park: it will
     be the "Noah's Ark" of tennis entourages with at least two of everything: coaches,
     managers and helpers.

     They'll have to put in an extra bench of seats.