Mark Philippoussis showed a glimpse of a return to form and fitness when he won his first match since March at the Queen's Club.

Philippoussis beat Germany's Raemon Sluiter 6-4 6-0 in 55 minutes in the opening round of the Stella Artois tournament, his 14th win in his last 36 matches.

After sliding from a ranking of nine at the start of last year to 189 this week, the injury-prone Australian needed a wildcard to get into Queen's but faces a serious test of his comeback when he faces second seed and world No.4 Andy Roddick in the next round.

Philippoussis warmed up by teaming up with Lleyton Hewitt for a first round win in the doubles and looked solid again.

With his left ankle heavily strapped, he served powerfully and delivered some of his trademark thunderbolts from the back of the court, while also showing some touch with his volleys.

He had to save two break points in the third game of the first set but pulled himself out of trouble several times with his big serve.

After breaking Sluiter in the final game of the set, he then never let the German in, racing through the next six games as his confidence soared in only his fifth match this year.

A torn adductor muscle forced him out of the Australian Open in January and he then injured his ankle during his first round win over Christophe Rochus in the Miami Masters in March.

A back injury forced him to pull out of the Surbiton Trophy Challenger event an hour before his first match last week.

The win will at least arrest his slide down the rankings as he will recover the points lost when he tumbled to world No.866 Ian Flanagan in the first round here last year.

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