Mark Philippoussis was one of many greatest names on the world’s males’s tennis circuit within the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s.
The Melbourne-born tennis prodigy gained 11 titles throughout his profession and rose to quantity eight within the tennis world ranks.
His attractiveness additionally ensured he was a success with the women, and he had a string of high-profile relationships, together with with fellow Aussie singer/actress Delta Goodrem, and two damaged engagements earlier than discovering love with spouse of 11 years, Silvana Lovin.
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Philippoussis was born in Melbourne on November 7, 1976, to a Greek father, Nikolaos (Nick), and Italian mom, Rossana. He has an older sister, Maria.
His father purchased him his first tennis racquet when he was six, reportedly after he confirmed curiosity whereas watching a neighborhood tennis match, and started to educate him.
He turned professional in 1994, and his blistering serve, as soon as clocked at 229km/h, quickly noticed him earn the nickname ‘Scud’ after the Soviet Union’s Scud missile.
As his star rose professionally, curiosity within the good-looking 196cm tall Aussie additionally grew.
One among his first high-profile romances was believed to be with Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova.
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The 2 reportedly began spending time collectively in 1999 when she was simply 18, after assembly on the tennis match.
Within the early 2000s, he was linked with then It-girl US actress and mannequin Tara Reid of American Pie fame.
Delta Goodrem
Philippoussis started relationship Delta Goodrem in early 2004 after the 2 reportedly met at a charity occasion.
On the time, the Aussie singer, then simply 19, was present process remedy for Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of most cancers, after being recognized the earlier July when she was 18.
Throughout their romance, Goodrem, sporting quick hair after present process chemotherapy, took Philippoussis to the Logie Awards at Melbourne’s Crown On line casino in April 2004.
She even wrote the track Out Of The Blue concerning the tennis star. “Out of the blue there I met you once I thought it might be my final,” she sang.
In June, Goodrem travelled to England to help Philippoussis at Wimbledon, the place she was pictured within the stands beside his father throughout a match.
By October, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Goodrem was devastated after studying within the media that Philippoussis had began seeing Paris Hilton.
The affair got here to mild after Hilton apparently boasted about her “new man.”
The Sunday Telegraph reported Hilton and her sister Nicky had been appearing as private buying guides for 2 competitors winners from Melbourne when she confirmed off a photograph on her telephone of the tennis star topless on a seashore.
She reportedly stated, “I’ve received a brand new man and I am head over heels in love. I like him, he is so scorching. His identify is Mark Philippoussis.”
When advised he was relationship singer Delta Goodrem, she reportedly stated: “Not any extra. That’s utterly over,” earlier than claiming the 2 had damaged up as a result of he was bored.
Philippoussis later went on 2GB radio’s Alan Jones present to refute the claims.
“Delta and I had one thing particular and sadly it did not work out and now it is simply making the whole lot really feel prefer it’s all garbage, and it is robust,” he stated.
“We realised issues had been robust. We’re each younger, she’s simply beginning her profession.
“She’s going to get greater and greater and I have to get my profession again on monitor and it is a resolution we each got here up with.”
Nevertheless, Goodrem advised 60 Minutes the next yr the 2 had been nonetheless relationship when she examine Hilton in newspaper studies and that she broke up with him because of this.
“It did break my coronary heart, after all it did.”
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Alexis Barbara
The tryst with Hilton didn’t final lengthy and by October 2004, Philippoussis was seeing Alexis Barbara, then simply 17.
Barbara, who was then a mannequin and actress, was the daughter of a Miami, Florida-based property tycoon.
She put her profession on maintain to help Philippoussis on the tennis circuit, even travelling to Australia at first of 2005 to help him when he performed within the Hopman Cup and the Australian Open.
Regardless of a nine-year age hole, Philippoussis popped the query in March 2005 when Barbara was simply 18.
The Solar-Herald reported in December 2006 that the 2 had break up a number of months earlier.
“I broke up with Alexis after the US Open,” Philippoussis stated of the tennis match held over August and September yearly.
“She’s concentrating on her modelling and stuff, and I am concentrating on my tennis.”
Shannon Elizabeth
Philippoussis was subsequent linked to a different American Pie actress, Shannon Elizabeth.
On the time they met, she had additionally starred in Scary Film and had a small however pivotal function as Harriet in Love Really.
The 2 reportedly met on the Aussie Hundreds of thousands Poker Championships Celeb Problem at Melbourne’s Crown On line casino in January 2007 in Melbourne, Australia.
Age Of Love
Philippoussis, then 31, was chosen to star in a US actuality TV present, Age Of Love.
The Bachelor-fashion present noticed the tennis star date 13 ladies ranging in age from 21-48.
Contestants had been break up into two teams; the ‘kittens’ who had been of their 20s, and the ‘cougars’ who had been of their late 30s and 40s.
‘Kitten’ Amanda Salinas was the eventual winner of the competitors.
Salinas advised Sydney Confidential in 2009 they dated for 5 months after filming ended earlier than splitting.
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Jennifer Esposito
Philippoussis met actress Jennifer Esposito, who was three years his senior, in 2009.
The previous spouse of actor Bradley Cooper had appeared on the TV collection Spin Metropolis and movies comparable to I Nonetheless Know What You Did Final Summer season and Crash.
The 2 reportedly turned engaged simply three months after assembly, with Lady’s Day reporting in December 2009 that plans had been underway for the marriage to happen within the Hamptons.
Nevertheless, the marriage by no means went forward and the 2 had quietly break up by the center of the following yr.
Silvana Lovin
Lasting love was lastly across the nook for Philippoussis, who reportedly met mannequin and actress Silvana Lovin in 2012.
Lovin was born in Romania however grew up in Melbourne. In response to her IMDb bio, her modelling profession was launched on the 1999 Melbourne Vogue Competition.
The 2, who had been reportedly launched by mutual pals, married in 2013.
They went on to have two youngsters; son Nicholas was born in 2014 and daughter Maia arrived in 2018.
After beginning their married life in San Diego in southern California, they moved to Australia in 2019 and later arrange residence in Victoria’s Surf Coast Shire.
Final yr he advised Stellar journal their marriage works as a result of they “share the identical values and are on the identical web page.”
The pair launched their very own clothes model final yr. As We Create is described as a “consciously created, ethically made luxurious fundamentals model” based mostly in Melbourne.
She has helped him by means of robust occasions, together with allegations his father sexually assaulted youngsters he had coached in San Diego, earlier than his dying in 2022.
Philippoussis made $10 million in prize cash alone, regardless of by no means successful a grand slam occasion.
