SportsLine wire reports

MELBOURNE -- Sweden's Thomas Enqvist waltzed past Australian Mark Philippoussis on Saturday to win a warm-up tournament for next week's Australian Open.

Enqvist, ranked 18 in the world, hoisted the Colonial Classic exhibition trophy, acing the local favorite and defending champion on the last point to seal the match 6-4 6-1 in 52 minutes.

An erratic Philippoussis, heavily reliant on his powerful serve, piled on errors at the net in the second set after mistiming a crucial forehand when he was down 4-5 in the tight first set, and was unable to fend off Enqvist's passing shots.

"Thomas is playing some great tennis at the moment - my hat off to him. He's hitting the ball extremely clean. And he's a dangerous player at the moment," Philippoussis told reporters after the final.

ENQVIST AND PHILIPPOUSSIS, SEEDED 14, are in a tough quarter of the draw in the Australian Open with third seeded Australian Patrick Rafter, Briton Tim Henman, and American Michael Chang.

The 24-year-old Swede said his victory at the Adelaide hardcourt tournament last week and the wins at the Classic gave him confidence going into the year's first grand slam event, which is wide open with world number one Pete Sampras absent.

"It's perfect for me, but I think I'm still an outsider," Enqvist said after winning at Kooyong.

Enqvist said although Philippoussis made several mistakes on Saturday, his play earlier in the week showed him in good form for the Open, and the Australian said he felt reasonably well prepared for the two-week marathon.

"EVERYBODY IN THE DRAW HAS a good chance," the Swede said.

Local bookmakers rank 22-year-old Philippoussis as a top contender at the Open, alongside Rafter and American Andre Agassi, who beat Chang easily for third place at the Colonial Classic exhibition later on Saturday.

Agassi, continuing his comeback of last year, defeated his compatriot 6-3 6-2 in just under an hour as Chang, out of the world top 20 for the first time in 10 years, consistently hit the ball long or wide.

A visibly frustrated Chang put in only half his first serves, while Agassi made few errors.

The players rushed after the match to the ATP Tour Players meeting, where the agenda included the row over the lenient penalty defending Australian Open champion Czech Petr Korda had after testing positive for a steroid at Wimbledon last year.