For the Mark Fans :

Philippoussis' winning streak continues

MUNICH (Apr 27, 1998 - 12:07 EDT) - Mark Philippoussis spent less than an hour in renewing his clay court superiority over Julan Alonso, carving out a 7-5, 6-4 win to reach the second round of the 525,000 dollar BMW Open Monday.

Philippoussis, seeded fifth, beat the world No. 41 last week in the first round at Monte Carlo, taking three sets for the victory.

On Monday, the Melbourne big hitter needed a mere 56 minutes on the Centre Court of the Iphitos Club to advance.

Philippoussis broke at the end of each set, finishing the match as Alonso double-faulted. The Australian serve 21 aces as he improved his 1998 clay court record to 2-1.

French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten was opening against unseeded Goran Ivanisevic, while fourth seed Tim Henman was facing Jens Knippschild.

Thomas Nhdahl reversed a string of five consecutive first-round defeats as he won his first match since mid-February, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 over Christian Vinck.

The 30-year-old Nydahl, ranked a carer-best 77th on the ATP Tour list, improved his record this year to three wins against ten defeats.

Magnus Gustafsson, 31, crushed Sebastien Grosjean 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round on a cloudy, but mild spring day.

Gustafsson won the title here in 1991, but has not gotten past the second round since his heyday on the Iphitos club clay.

Philippoussis tossed out a trio of set-winning chances in the tenth game of the opening set as Alonso, 20, saved all three.

Alonso held for 5-all and gave Philippoussis a scare in the next game as well as the Australian had to save a break point with a winning serve.

Philippoussis took a 6-5 lead on a 205-kph ace and stung Alonso with a backhand return winner down the line a game later to win the set in 32 minutes.

The second went with serve until Alonso sent a backhand out for a Philippoussis match point and the Australian then won on a serving miscue.

The tournament was the second of a five-event experiment with on-court coaching on the ATP Tour. Philippoussis took advice at the end of the first set for the allowable two-minute period from fitness trainer and strategist Gavin Hopper of Australia.

Earlier Monday, tournament director and former German Davis Cup coach Niki Pilic made a plea for ATP Tour sanctions against players who drop out of events at the last minute.

Pilic was apparently still stinging from Sunday's late injury pullouts of former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek and Alberto Berasategui, both semifinals loser on Saturday at the Monte Carlo Open.

Pilic suggested that players who pull out several times on late notice during the year be slapped with a six-week ban.