Mark Philippoussis' mum is relieved the tennis ace has split with DELTA GOODREM, because the pop beauty inadvertently damaged his career.

The Australian sportsman's world ranking has spiralled downwards since he started dating his fellow native 10 months ago (JAN04) - he is currently ranked 80th in the world - and Philippoussis' mother ROSANNA believes their romance distracted her son from his tennis ambitions.

But despite reports he's now dating American socialite Paris Hilton, Rosanna is confident Philippoussis can regain his top ten standing without the burden of a girlfriend.

She says, "I don't have nothing bad to say about my son.

"Mark was number nine in the world 10 months ago. Well, he wants to put his life back into tennis and with a relationship, he can't do that."

Sources claim Philippoussis ended their relationship on 13 October (04), because he was struggling to juggle a long-distance girlfriend and his tennis aspirations.

26/10/2004 17:34