When Mark Philippoussis sets his mind to something, there is no stopping him. It’s this attitude that saw him win two Davis Cups, in 1999 and 2003, reach the finals of the 1998 US Open and Wimbledon in 2003, and reach a career high of No. 8 in the world as a professional tennis player. It’s what spurred him on to make it to the final selection challenge in the gruelling reality TV show SAS Australia in 2021. And it’s the mindset he is bringing to his new career chapter as a fashion designer.
“Once my mind is on something, you can’t talk me out of it. My mindset is done – and I make up my mind in a second,” he tells Stellar. Elite athletes attempting a foray into the fashion industry is no rare thing these days. But the 47-year-old reveals that while a tennis racket might have been his first love, a pencil was always his second. “As a kid, I loved drawing things and I had that creative itch,” he explains.
The tennis pro first tried his hand at fashion nearly a decade ago, when he released a line of menswear called Phl!p that was worn by the likes of pop star Justin Bieber. Mark, who at the time was based in California, closed the label when he moved back to Melbourne in 2019 with wife Silvana to raise their children Nicholas, now nine, and Maia, now five.
But their creative drive never left the couple – Silvana had studied fashion herself – and together they’ve now launched As We Create, a line of consciously made, luxury basics and a soon-to-be-released activewear range.
“Our plan was always to move back to Australia. We wanted the kids growing up surrounded by their family. I just felt like I wanted to create just to do it again,” Mark says. “It started as a passion project but now I want this to be a business.”
Silvana, who has helped design the womenswear line and models the clothes, tells Stellar, “I love seeing [Mark] happy and I know that this brand has made him super happy and it creates so much joy. We can work together and bounce ideas off each other.”
And with a life that’s consumed by the busy schedules of two children, Silvana laughs that the new venture has actually afforded them more time together. “It allows us to have a moment with each other, because there is definitely little space for that these days with the kids.”
With their focus always on the children, Mark adds they are a large part of the reason the
couple started the brand in the first place.
“We were both raised that family is everything. Family is priority. My tennis career stopped because of injury when I was 29, which is pretty young. A lot of people are like, ‘How did you make the transition?’ You see a lot of athletes that get in trouble after they retire. They go out drinking … But I didn’t freak out because I knew that as long as I had the people that I love around me, then I’m capable of doing anything,” he explains.
“I have a dream and a vision for our family: the holidays, the house we want, where we want to travel.”
Adds Silvana: “The beautiful thing is that, with all of that life experience, he’s able to be there for our children. It’s a huge blessing because he’s able to guide them now.”
The couple, who recently celebrated their 10-year wedding anniversary, believe they’ve seen
a shift with the public’s perception of the tennis ace in recent years, particularly since he
appeared on SAS Australia in 2021 and allowed viewers a more personal insight into his
post-tennis life. “I’ve always felt I had a great relationship with the public but if you ask me
what my relationship was to the press, now that’s a different story,” he muses.
“I felt like I
was misinterpreted a lot. The headlines were about what girl I was dating, or what car I was
driving. And I’m going to be honest, that hurt. Before social media, that’s all the public had to
go on. I had a lot of people stop me on the street and say, ‘You’re not at all what I thought
you were.’”
Silvana continues, “He had been so out of the public eye for such a long time and people
had a perception of him from the media, which was completely opposite to who he really is.
Now people come up to me and go, ‘Your husband is the most beautiful human being.’”
While he might be enjoying a renaissance with the public, Mark is also finding a renaissance
in tennis. He’s been playing in Legends’ Doubles tournaments around the world, including
the Australian Open in January. “I’ve been getting a chance to play tennis without the stress
of everything involved with results and politics. I’ve been able to go out on Centre Court and
really enjoy it,” he says of the Doubles experience.
“And also the guys that I’m playing the matches with, I’ve been able to actually sit down and have breakfast with them or lunch with them and open up to each other about our families and kids. You can’t do that when you’re on tour because you’ve got to play against them. You can’t see them as your friends.”
Earlier this year he also appeared in the player’s box of world No. 6 tennis star Stefanos
Tsitsipas as his coach, with Philippoussis saying he is in talks to do more coaching come
January’s Australian Open. “I’ve had a couple of people reach out to me saying they want to
work with me and it’s beautiful. It feels nice to have somebody feel like I have something to
offer to help fulfil their dreams and to be part of the team. I’ve enjoyed my time doing that
and that’s something I want to continue to do.”
However, constant travelling means spending time away from his family, but the couple
insist they are a strong family unit.
“We share the same values and are on the same page,
which is what makes us work. We do everything together, and even when he’s gone for a
long time, because we’ve had such good quality family time together prior, we still feel like
we’re close,” says Silvana.
Adds Mark: “I have no interest, and don’t have the time, to do anything I’m not passionate
about. [For me to] spend time away from my family, it has to be for a good reason.”
So while the road post-retirement from elite tennis hasn’t been without its bumps, Mark
believes the best is yet to come. “Life is about enduring ups and downs, of course. But I’m in
an incredible place in my life. We are blessed.”
Read the full interview inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA). Listen to the latest episode of Stellar’s podcast Something To Talk About below:
Originally published as ‘I didn’t freak out when my tennis career ended’: Mark Philippoussis on retirement, marriage and navigating public life