Mark arrives in Brazil

Mark has arrived in Rio to start preparing for the Champions tournament this weekend. I have added the new photos to the gallery, and here are a couple of translated quotes from a recent interview:

"All players who compete for the tournament are top athletes and they were big winners on the professional circuit, it is part of our nature to seek to win. There are moments of fun and we really enjoy being on the court, but no one comes to lose. The public can be assured that you will see a very tough race. "

"Pioline is very talented. He's still hitting the ball pretty good and keep playing as before. It will be a tough debut."

"I'm enjoying the city a lot more this time than the other. Surely be very good days. The river is wonderful. One of the most beautiful places I have visited. I will try to divide my time between surfing and drills."

Tournament news

As you can see Mark's schedule is starting to fill up with Champions events. There are plenty of opportunities overseas for Mark to play, so it's great to see he's committing to a lot of them!

New interview with Mark and Jennifer Esposito

It's good to see that Samuel Clark's photo was purchased and used for an short article in New Idea this week. The interview with Mark and Jennifer reveals they have temporarily put their wedding plans on hold whilst Mark gets his life back in order.

Whilst the editors try to give the impression it's all due to Mark's tennis I am not so convinced that is the main reason. We all know Mark had a horror 2009 personally and financially so to me it seems wise they take their time and get Mark back on track to being healthy, happy and financially secure. The general focus may be tennis - but the bigger picture is he's getting healthy and finding a daily routine and happiness that's been lacking for some time.

I have to say though reading comments about returning to the tour (even though Mark admits it will be very hard and almost unrealistic) have me shaking my head and asking why????

I do not understand Mark's reasoning for trying to achieve this. Why is he still holding on to the hope... why can't he let it go? I can not help but say it worries me, he has a great opportunity to make a decent living off playing Champions tour events and yet that doesn't seem to be enough.

I hope he spends some time talking to Marat Safin next month... a close friend who's playing style is similar but after his knee surgery didn't have the same movement and ultimately decided to retire from the ATP tour at the right time. Even if Mark claws his way back into a tour event, the likelihood of him winning against the modern players is extremely low. Maybe he's just striving for the sense of achievement against all odds, but there comes a point when tennis players have to except their own bodies limitations and respect the other talent around them.

Mark's body has been screaming at him for the past 3-4 years. I truly hope over the next couple of months he's either miraculously found the strength and ability to be playing challengers, or he's finally conceded that it's time to officially retire and move on to the next phase of his career and life.

It seems like good things are happening in 2010... he's got an amazing woman supporting him, he's getting his health back and has opportunities to make a living doing what he loves. I hope all of these things help Mark maintain happiness and fulfillment for the rest of the year.

From New York... to Rio de Janeiro

Photo: Snapper media

Another rare sighting of Mark and Jennifer has been captured over the past weekend. The couple were photographed walking in the west village of New York with Jennifer's two dogs. The sighting has fulled more speculation and interested about their pending wedding that is suppose to take place in a couple of months.

It seems though Mark has now flown to Brazil to promote and prepare for the upcoming Champion series event in Rio. Here is a translated interview:

Harder, Philippoussis prepares debut in Rio de Janeiro

In a climate of countdown to the Champions race in Rio, a stage that opens the circuit world champions in 2010, the Australian Mark Philippoussis says rediscovered the joy of being on the court just in Rio de Janeiro, during the last edition of the tournament. Back in town, vows to repay showing a mixture of competitiveness and fun at Maracanãzinho 12 to March 14.

"Playing this tournament has brought back the excitement of tennis for me," said Philippoussis, a former number 8 in the world, there are four years away from the world circuit. "The atmosphere of the tournament is fully relaxed, very fun. But when we enter the court, the dispute is serious. Much has changed in my game since I played the tournament in Brazil last year, I am stronger physically and my knee is great. I'm very excited, I arrived in Rio early and prepare myself well for the competition, "said the Australian.

Owner of one of the strongest drafts of tennis - has come to draw about 229 km / h - Philippoussis, 33, won 11 tournaments in the world circuit, has helped Australia to win twice the Davis Cup and was a finalist in two Grand Slam Slam - U.S. Open in 1998 and Wimbledon in 2003.

In Rio Champions, he joins a group that includes three former world number one, a total of 13 Grand Slam titles, 10 Davis Cup and Olympic medals and Pan American. In the race, the rookie will be Marat Safin, Mats Wilander, Jim Courier, Wayne Ferreira, Cedric Pioline, Fernando Meligeni and Mikael Pernfors.

Russian is their great goal in the tournament - Contemporary Australian circuit in the world, the recently retired Marat Safin is the highlight of the opening stage of the circuit champions in 2010. Philippoussis does not hide that I would like to re-edit before the Brazilian public confrontations balanced who played with the Russian tennis player. They faced each other six times, with five wins from Safin. All the clashes or in Grand Slams and Masters tournaments in 1000.

"I would love to face Marat again. We have done very balanced game and he's a great guy off the court, I'm sure we'll have fun," she believes the Australian. "He has a crazy sort of way, brings excitement to the court, and people love it."

With intention to return to compete in the ATP regular, Philippoussis said he does not know when it will return full time to the circuit (he played a Challenger tournament earlier this season), but once you feel well enough to return.

"The Champions Series is the way I found to do this. Rio Champions will serve to show how good I am, which still need to do to get that strength that you only get playing and I have to improve in my game. I do not know what will my schedule, but when I feel ready, come back, "concluded the Australian.

Sports Gazette

Screen grabs

I've just added some photos from the new video of Mark and Jim Courier to the gallery.

Video treat!

Great initiative by Jim Courier who seems to be trying to make the Champions Series more interactive by adding a video page.

Mark and Jim appear in the latest short clip, taken in New York after what looks to be a sweaty practice session. They briefly talk about upcoming Rio Championships and joke they need more time to practice.

Hopefully we see a lot more of these behind-the-scenes clips from the Champions series!

My Apologies

I have removed the latest photos of Mark and Jennifer taken by Samuel Clark at New York fashion week. They are currently being sold to various outlets and hopefully once the deals are done I might be able to upload them again.