Mark Anthony Philippoussis (born 7 November 1976) is an Australian tennis player. He turned professional in 1994 and as of 2007 resides in Nevada, United States. His background is a combination of Greek and Italian and he is well known for his powerful physique, standing at 6 ft 5 inches and weighing 226 pounds. He has also had a minor career in modelling and starred in the American reality television dating show Age of Love.
Philippoussis was born in Melbourne and educated at Wesley College.
Coached by his father, Nick Philippoussis, the right-hander has played tennis since he was six years of age. He was briefly coached by former 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash during his junior years, which ended in an acrimonious split.
In 1994, he finished third in single ranking for juniors. Philippoussis also finished as junior doubles champion with Ben Ellwood in Australia, Wimbledon, and Italy. He turned professional in 1994.
In 1995, at the age of 19, he was the youngest player in the year-end top 50. In 1996, he reached the 4th round of the Australian Open upsetting Pete Sampras in the 3rd round and in doubles with Patrick Rafter. On 25 May 1997, he recorded a personal best 229.0 km/h (142.3 mph) serve in a game he lost to Albert Costa. During the height of his career, Mark was notoriously known as having one of the fastest services in the game.
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