Scud’s invite secure
Scud’s invite secure 
Former Australian Captain January 01, 2007
MARK Philippoussis’s Hopman Cup victory over Dmitry Tursunov is expected to seal the Victorian’s first major target of the summer - an Australian Open singles wildcard.
Ranked No.114 in the world, Philippoussis is second only to Lleyton Hewitt in the national standings and, as a proven crowd-puller, is almost certain to receive one of three remaining main-draw invitations from Tennis Australia.
Chris
Guccione, Peter Luczak, Nick Lindahl, Nathan Healey and Wayne Arthurs also remain in contention, although Arthurs’ qualifying loss in Adelaide was another setback to the veteran’s hopes.
Tennis Australia will wait until the Sydney wildcard play-off before revealing its hand, but it would be a shock if Philippoussis was not first in line - marginally ahead of Guccione.
Tennis Australia also has three women’s singles wildcards to distribute, with Sydneysider Sophie Ferguson, a Tony Roche charge, high on the list of contenders.
