Mark Philippoussis’s worthless $ 100k purchase reveals a glimpse into his wildlife

Mark Philippoussis was the rarest man in Australian tennis during the glory years of the late 1990s and early 2000s, adopting a lifestyle few Down Under could comprehend.

While Pat Rafter fixed Bonds’ underwear and Lleyton Hewitt did his best incarnation of the quintessential Weet-Bix child, Philippoussis hung out with celebrities like Delta Goodrem and celebrated Davis Cup victories with photos of Patron instead of VB blocks.

The Scud was a great talent on the court – he reached the US Open final in 1998 and the decisive Wimbledon in 2003 – and a tabloid goldmine outside of it. And with stories like this, it’s not hard to see how he earned a reputation as the wild kid of Australian sport who enjoyed all the trappings that accompanied his fame.

Appearing on the latest edition of host Mark Howard’s podcast The Howie Games, Philippoussis provided insight into the life of a tennis star who had it all.

Philippoussis, an unashamed seed, told Howard that he would pass by a new car as often as some people cut the lawn, owning everything from Mercedes to Bentley, as well as “numerous Lamborghinis and a ton of Ferraris.” Ah, not to mention 15 bikes.

“I would be bored. I am not exaggerating when I say I would easily check one car a month and change it,” Philippoussis said.

“I never kept it because it never made me happy, I was just bored.”

Philippoussis, who lived in Florida in his 20s in the 1990s and trained with revered American tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, decided it was time to buy a new toy. Chevrolet had just released a new Corvette and Dodge had a new Viper, so he wanted to drive the two hours to the dealerships in Tampa with a friend to see them.

The Poo hit the road in a huge convertible Hummer, but encountered problems on the slippery roads after a bit of rain. She slammed on the brakes after changing lanes when she found herself heading for a damaged semi-trailer, and she spun out of control, crashing into a concrete divider and splitting it in half.

Philippoussis and his friend were devastated. Scud’s partner wanted to take a taxi and go home, but the tennis star was not allowing it.

“I say, ‘No man, to hell with that, I’m not coming home,'” Philippoussis told Howard. “I’m like, let’s see these cars, we’re only 30 minutes away.”

“So we took a cab and looked at these cars. On one side of the street was Chevrolet and on the other side of the street was Dodge.

“I say, ‘No, I’m not going to take a cab home … I’m going to drive. We’ll take one of these cars home.’

In a sign of how confident Philippoussis was in his early 20s, he pitted Chevrolet and Dodge against each other, telling dealers that anyone who could get their car ready to pull out of the parking lot first, the Corvette or Viper, would. get your money. He gave them an hour.

“You can laugh, because it’s ridiculous,” Philippoussis told Howard.

The Dodge Viper was ready in 45 minutes, so Philippoussis pulled out his American Express card and paid A $ 100,000 for it. But this is where you just have to shake your head and wonder what it must be like to be rich and famous.

“Long story short, the Dodge Viper was ready in 45 minutes. They detailed it and I bought the car on my American Express and came home with the car, but it didn’t fit properly, so the next day I sold,” Philippoussis said.

“But he didn’t want to go home by taxi.”

At least Philippoussis can admit that he now pays $ 100,000 for a car only to sell it a day later, all because he didn’t want to ride a taxi; it’s a “messy story” and a “stupid thing”. However, it should be nice if you can get away with it.

As Howard put it: “It’s a great story because it has given our listeners an understanding of what life is like when you can do what you want, when you want.”

SCAR THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

Although the best tennis players in the world have money to spend, it is difficult to openly pursue lavish lifestyles while concentrating on collecting trophies. Philippoussis was a pioneer in that regard, at least in Australia, a country where we like our athletes to choose modesty over excess.

His desire for fun off the court was the result of his father’s health battles. Diagnosed with cancer when Philippoussis was in his teens, his father Nick beat him once only for the disease to reappear after the tennis prodigy turned 18.

Nick, who had child rape charges against him dropped in California in late 2018 after suffering a stroke in jail, also won that fight, but Philippoussis’s outlook changed forever.

Some will say that with his amount of talent and that missile-like service, Philippoussis should have earned more than him. The truth is, he worked hard, but when it came time to disconnect, he did too.

“Seeing someone you love, you think they have a certain amount of time to live, changed everything for me. And tennis didn’t seem that important anymore,” Philippoussis told Howard.

“It reached a stage where I realized that I didn’t care about eating, sleeping, breathing tennis because my first priority in my life was always my family. I grew up that way, but that took it to another level by seeing someone. , your father, who helped me become who I am, almost losing him to cancer, changed everything.

“I didn’t give a shit about tennis anymore to be honest with you.”

Perhaps that lack of killer instinct is part of the reason why Philippoussis reached two major finals but never won a Grand Slam title. Whatever the impact, it certainly didn’t hinder it on the green and gold – the famous decisive win to claim the Davis Cup for Australia against France in 1999 and Spain in 2003.

He is incredibly proud of those achievements, but for Philippoussis there was more to life than tennis. That’s why she could never be like Hewitt, for example, who even at 39 can’t give the sport away forever, jogging to play doubles and passionately shouting encouragement after every point as the captain of the Australian Davis Cup.

“When I was on the court, I was playing. When I was training, I was training hard. But as soon as that was over, I shut down and enjoyed my life,” Philippoussis said.

“The great ones have almost no life, and that is the reality. They are obsessed, you need to be obsessed with everything you are doing.

“The best example, and it still is, is Lleyton Hewitt. Lleyton was obsessed with tennis, he’s still obsessed with tennis. He hasn’t disconnected, everyone can see him. That’s him.

“That’s what has to happen and it wasn’t me. It was at the beginning, but it wasn’t me, and I can be honest and say that.

“When I went on the court I wanted to win, I put everything there, but I was not obsessed. I turned off and I wanted to enjoy my life.”