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By Moin Salahuddin

Daily Bruin Staff

Returning to the same courts where he honed his game, Justin Gimelstob put on a show for a packed crowd in Straus Stadium Thursday night at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

Down a set and playing against the top-seed in the Mercedes-Benz Cup, Gimelstob managed to summon the energy to come back and defeat Australian Mark Philippoussis in a thrilling three-set match: 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3).

“I get a lot of energy coming here,” former Bruin All-American Gimelstob said of UCLA. “I felt comfortable playing at home in front of the big crowd.”

But that wasn’t the story early on.

Capturing the last eight points of the first set and breaking the American twice, Philippoussis easily won the first set 6-3.

But neither of the 6-foot-5 powerhouses let their serve down, as each held serve for the remaining two sets, – an incredible 25 straight games without a break.

That left the match up to the two crucial tie-breakers, of which Gimelstob took control.

After splitting the first 12 games of the second set, the 24-year-old Australian took an early 4-2 lead on a 122 mph ace in the tie-break.

An errant forehand by Philippoussis made the score 4-3, but the following point dramatically changed the complexion of the match.

Gimelstob apparently hit a forehand winner that Philippoussis lunged at, striking it back at a surprised Gimelstob. The American then dove for the ball, hitting another winner that the Australian managed to stab. But luckily for Gimelstob, the ball landed several inches wide and brought him to 4-4.

“Lunging, falling, diving. That was pretty good,” Gimelstob said. “That helped give me some momentum.”

After several more unforced errors, Gimelstob evened up the match with a powerful 110 mph serve that Philippoussis couldn’t handle.

The decisive third set also went according to form, with both big men pounding the ball and each other into submission. After another 12 games, the duo faced their final test of the night: a third-set, winner-take-all tie-breaker.

Both players exchanged minibreaks to start 1-1, but Gimelstob quickly went up 3-1 on successive forehand errors by Philippoussis.

“He always goes for big shots,” Gimelstob said of Philippoussis. “I don’t think he was particularly sharp.”

But Gimelstob came to life, smacking a forehand volley to propel himself to a 4-1 lead in the tie-breaker.

Another error by Philippoussis and a forehand winner by Gimelstob brought the American to quadruple match point at 6-2, of which Philippoussis managed to save one.

With a crosscourt volley winner on his second match point, and at the end of the two hour, 15 minute marathon, Gimelstob flung his racket into the air and pumped his fists in euphoria.

“He’s a confidence player,” Philippoussis said. “At five-all, six-all, he gets more confident.”

The players combined for 28 aces, with Philippoussis’ serves reaching near the 140 mph range.

“I think I served well,” Gimelstob said. “That's a lot of aces. You just got to concentrate on your service game.”

Yet despite the 10 double faults that Gimelstob committed along with his plethora of aces, the most telling stat of the night was the break points he saved – an amazing five of seven.

“I went for too much today,” Philippoussis said. “Little points that pretty much gave him the set. I was going for shots that I shouldn't be going for.”

Gimelstob advances to the quarterfinals Friday where he will face fellow American Paul Goldstein.