Tennis Australia will not intervene and insist on Mark Philippoussis being chosen for the Australian team for the Davis Cup final if the stayaway star is left out.
The president of Australia Tennis Geoff Pollard said on Sunday, it was up to the selection committee to choose the best team from the players available for the December 8-10 final against Spain or the United States, who play off next weekend.
Philippoussis may not be here for the semi-final against Brazil, crying off with a knee injury, but he looms large in Australia's Davis Cup deliberations.
Team captain John Newcombe only learned of Philippoussis' unavailability when he rang him at his Melbourne home from London last Saturday, forcing a late change of plans for the Brazil tie.
Wimbledon finalist Pat Rafter criticized Philippoussis for "jerking" the Australian team around following the Scud's late withdrawal and team member Lleyton Hewitt Sunday called for his renewed commitment to the Davis Cup.
Newcombe, in his seventh and last year as non-playing Australian captain, foreshadowed the bypassing of Philippoussis for the Cup final when he said he intended to keep the team which Sunday completed a 5-0 sweep over the Brazilians in the semi-final.
"The way we are looking at it right now the team that did the job in the semi will be the one that does the job in the final," said Newcombe.
There were suggestions that Pollard, as the country's top tennis official, might step in and overrule that, but he stated his position on Sunday.
"Our process is that all Australian players are eligible for selection, and we like to think all are available for selection, but we have a selection committee and they are the ones that pick the team," he said.
"I don't think I have the right (to intervene) under our constitution, I've never done it before and the other times I've seen presidents in other sports do it and it's generally backfired."
Pollard called for more direct communication between Philippoussis and the Davis Cup team.
"We need to have direct communication with Mark, not through a whole range of intermediaries," he said.
Philippoussis has a chequered history of committing himself to playing for his country. He has played in three of Australia's previous eight Cup ties. He was the hero in last year's final victory over France in Nice.
The biggest controversy came when he made himself unavailable for the Davis Cup tie against Zimbabwe in Mildura, NSW, in 1998 because of a dispute with Newcombe and coach Tony Roche, only to then turn up and watch his teammates fall to an ignominious 3-2 defeat.
Hewitt Sunday spoke of the team's feelings towards Philippoussis.
"A lot of things have to be sorted out," he said after his 6-4, 6-1 win over Andre Sa.
"Obviously, the conversations that went on before this week were pretty ordinary, and that is going to have to get fixed.
"With a new captain and coach coming in next year, it is going to be a whole new ball game. They are going to have to set down the law right from the start and you have to put yourself on the line every time for your country."
Newcombe was non-committal about the thorny issue Sunday, saying there was a "lot of water under the bridge" with the US Open and the Sydney Olympics to come before the Davis Cup final in five months' time.
Australia advanced to their 45th Davis Cup final after Mark Woodforde and Sandon Stolle won a gripping five-set doubles over Gustavo Kuerten and Jaime Oncins Saturday.
Hewitt swept past Sa in the first of the reverse singles and Rafter polished off Fernando Meligeni, 6-3, 6-4 as Australia won their eighth consecutive Davis Cup-tie -- (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
