page 2 Australian
Open 2001
Day
7 - Patrick Rafter
Sunday, 21 January, 2001
Video
interview
TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEW
P. RAFTER/T. Henman 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
Q. Tim Henman thinks you can win this title. Do you?
PATRICK RAFTER: I guess everyone's got a chance, that's the way I always look
at it. Today was one of those matches that make you -- you get a bit more
confidence out of I guess. I'd been hitting the ball pretty well, but that
was something a bit more exceptional for me today. I didn't know I had it in
me right now. It gives me added confidence going into my next match. The guys
that remain are playing very well as well so I think I have an outside chance.
Q. John Parsons, Daily Telegraph, London. The fact that you haven't gone
beyond the fourth round before, was that an even better point for you? Was it
a bit of a barrier?
PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, I think it was at the end, I just looked across and
went, "Oh, finally." It was relief as much as excitement for me. I was
very,
very satisfied and very happy with the way I played and where I am right now.
Q. Is that the sort of level you think you played in the last two matches at
Wimbledon?
PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah. You know, this is as well as I've been playing I think.
This is as well as I've played. The way Tim came out in the first few games,
I just thought that score line could have very easily been the other way
around if he got off to a good start. And he got his momentum going in the
right direction. And I was able to hang in there and turn it around. So it's
probably as good as I've played and it's time to pick the game up right now.
Q. Andrej Bucko. How much are you surprised by Dominik Hrbaty beating Safin?
PATRICK RAFTER: I guess you have to be a little bit surprised. You'd probably
have to, you know, if you're a betting man, you'd probably have to bet on
Safin. But Dominik is very, very talented and is playing very good tennis.
He's come off a win in Auckland. He's going to be very difficult. He's going
to hit a lot of hard balls past me in our match. But I don't know if he's
really going to like the way I play either so I'm going to have to try to
outserve him with my solid game.
Q. Ubaldo Scanagatta, La Nazione, Italy. The only disappointment of the day
must have been to be unable to break your shirt. (Laughter.)
PATRICK RAFTER: I thought I was stronger than that. Reebok make good quality
shirts, mate. Very tough. (Laughter.) I cut it with a knife and I still
couldn't tear it.
Q. So you hadn't practiced that one yet then?
PATRICK RAFTER: No, I hadn't practiced it. I'd done it once before as a
tribute to Andrew, we all did it in Boston. This again was a one-off thing
for Andrew. He didn't get a chance to do it today. Looks like I won't be
doing it again.
Q. How do the conditions here compare with the US Open where you've obviously
had a lot more success?
PATRICK RAFTER: The ball jumps around a little bit more at the US Open. It's
probably about the only difference. It just hits the court and reacts really
well. This court is playing a little bit -- as far as I see -- a little bit
more like that than it has in the past. It's definitely not as quick or as
bouncy as the US Open. That's probably got to do with the balls as well. But
it still is a court that's reacting more than it used to in the past.
Q. Given that you've sort of broken that psychological barrier, could this
still be your last Australian Open?
PATRICK RAFTER: Listen, I'm going -- I'll probably take a break at the end of
the year and it will be an indefinite break. I really don't know how long it
will go for. So, I mean, I'm committed to the whole year. I want another
really good year this year, and this is a good start. But, you know, what
will happen next year, at the end of this year, you know, will definitely be
a break. Whether I come back will be another story.
Q. Do you have a theory on why you've not succeeded here in the past?
PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, but it might not be the right one.
Q. What is it?
PATRICK RAFTER: I consider my not playing great tennis here is somewhat to do
with the conditions at times, the court is played more like an indoor court
where I've never really had good results on indoor courts before. Coming off
Christmas, I'm someone who needs to work very hard to play well, and probably
haven't given myself the best opportunity, enough matches, enough tournament
practice, and I think Barcelona's really helped for this year. That is the
way I see it. But it might be all in my mind, I don't know.
Q. Do you think then this is the best you've ever been prepared at the Open
here?
PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, and I put that down purely to the Davis Cup. Yep.
Q. Do you think you're under any more pressure at home than when you're
playing overseas where you've had better results?
PATRICK RAFTER: Well, Bruce McAvaney asked me that question today as well.
I've come back here to play Davis Cup and I felt that I played good Davis Cup
matches back in Australia. I feel that's more pressure than anything. So I
don't consider that ever being a problem for me. I consider a preparation
being a problem for me in the past.
Q. Did you have a word with McNamee about the conditions this year? Did you
talk about what might suit you?
PATRICK RAFTER: No, listen, he's got to be unbiased in the way he does
everything, and I've -- obviously if I wanted a court that suited me, I'd
want the US Open court and the US Open balls. So, you know, you don't say
those sort of things. This is a tournament, he's got to be professional about
it. He can't favor anyone. Yeah... Put in a grass court if I wanted a favor.
Q. Have you been coached by Paul to play Tuesday night's session?
PATRICK RAFTER: I don't know what's going on. I'll leave that up with Tony
Roche, Paul McNamee and my brother. They can decide on what they'd like to do.
Q. How many brothers and sisters are here to follow you, I mean out of nine?
PATRICK RAFTER: One, two, three, four... (Laughter.)
Q. Okay, you can see --?
PATRICK RAFTER: I've seen five of them. (Laughter.) Yeah. Actually, it's not
that funny. I've only seen five. There's another -- yeah, there's another
three and my father. If I can continue, they'll probably make their way down.
Q. You're not very popular in the ticket office?
PATRICK RAFTER: They actually have gotten a lot of -- they're not liking my
brother at all. Because he's the one responsible for picking up 20 tickets
all the time, and, yeah, I don't think -- they're not happy with me. They
like to see me out of the tournament.
Q. There's a report you've got a new tattoo on your leg. Is that the case?
PATRICK RAFTER: No. This is a thing for Scott Draper. He's putting tattoos
for the cystic fibrosis thing. Some of the players put them on.
Q. Stick-on?
PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, it comes off.
END--www.ausopen.org/news/interviews/
| TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEW day 5
round 3
P. RAFTER/M. Kratochvil 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 Q. How was that one compared with the last? Seemed a little easier? PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, hit the ball a bit better today but at the same time he allowed me to play a bit better, more so than the second-round match. I probably didn't give him enough credit after the second-round match, how good the guy was. And today, everything came off my racquet a little bit better. I had time to play my shots. I served okay without being great. So I'm going to need to pick up my serving if I want to continue on. Q. How does it feel to be back after all these years? PATRICK RAFTER: It's been a while, yeah. But fourth round's not where I want to end up. I want to continue on. Q. Congratulations. Were you pretty pleased with your form in general? PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah. Yeah, it's always good to win, you know. Sometimes you don't play well and you win, it still feels good because you know you can play not at your peak but also win. And today was a match where I felt I hit the ball pretty well and I did what I had to do to win. But there's still room for improvement, and each round gets tougher and tougher and I'm going to have to work on those improvements. I'm making those improvements pretty quickly, fourth round might be as far as I get. Q. Your next match will be Tim Henman or Wayne Arthurs. What are your thoughts on that one? PATRICK RAFTER: Well, very, very different. Left and right, huge serves, yeah. I mean, it's one of those matches that's a winnable match I still think. Sometimes you play Pete or Andre, it's not quite as winnable. But Tim is playing well this year. He started off pretty well, and he seems to be hitting the ball very well this week. So he's probably the one that I would look to to probably get through. But Wayne is very, very dangerous. And he's -- he can play very, very good tennis. So I don't know. It's one of those matches that I'm just happy to be in the fourth round and it's not Sampras or Agassi. They're the ones you want to keep away from. And Safin as well for that matter. Q. Will you watch the match tonight? PATRICK RAFTER: I will be. I watch the matches every night. I love it. Q. Your style of game, does that take a little bit more tinkering and refinement given you're a dominant volleyer? You can't practice that too much. In the games they try to pass you anyway. It's harder to refine? PATRICK RAFTER: Not necessarily. I don't look at it that way. I think everyone's got to be sharp in what they do and what you do well, and for me it's serve and volleying and putting the pressure on. And if I can do that well, then, you know, then I can win. And for a baseliner, they've got to be sharp on not missing. They've got to get close to the lines and keep the other guy running. So it's just a different style of game for different people. But I don't think my game needs any more tinkering than anyone else's. Q. Do you rely on their position on the court to dictate where you're going to move to? Are you really reacting to their body or their racquet? You seem to be so quick, you seem to always be there. PATRICK RAFTER: Well, certain style of play, you have to find out where they like to go as well. As the match progresses, you find out what's their comfortable shot and where you think they will go. And a lot of -- some of it is guesswork, sometimes you get lucky. Q. You look physically very fresh. Do you feel good? PATRICK RAFTER: Bloody hot out there, mate. I'm glad it's over. I haven't had -- I haven't really been pushed very far just yet. I haven't had the grueling matches like Lleyton or Pete Sampras yet. And I am trying to avoid as much as I can. To me, I'm trying to conserve as much energy. And if I'm not fresh, then I'm in trouble. Q. Is there anything different about your game or in your head this year than there has been in past Australian Opens? PATRICK RAFTER: No, I just feel like I've hit some more balls, you know. Just coming off the Davis Cup has definitely been a plus for me, although it was mentally very hard for us, and some of us are still thinking about it over the Christmas time. But it worked in our favor knowing they would play so many balls during that time that it would pay off this time of the year and it has. Q. Did you spot that guy in the wheelchair from the court obviously? You made a decision to make a really kind gesture, deliver your shirt personally to him. PATRICK RAFTER: I don't know if I could walk up the stairs so I gave it to the little ball boy to walk up. You look around sometimes and you see those sort of people and it's very, very sad. And they're trying to enjoy the match and you know they can't really see it in the position they're in, and you think, "Okay, now if I'm going to win this, whatever happens I'm going to, you know, get a kid to take it up." So it's a very small gesture, it makes them happy. Q. Do you remember what point of the match that thought occurred to you? If I win this, I'll have to do something good. PATRICK RAFTER: Just after the second set. I sort of sat down at the end of the second, I looked up and saw the two guys up there. But I don't have that many yellow shirts. So I wanted to give two, one each. But I don't have that many. Q. Did you know in advance he was going to be there? I gather he met your mom in the past. PATRICK RAFTER: No. No idea. No. Q. I was wondering, was today actually an easy match? Is there such a thing now as an easy match? Is everyone stepping up and getting better? PATRICK RAFTER: I'd prefer to be playing the guy I played today than playing Prinosil-Agassi, that sort of thing. Or there are matches that you prefer to play, that you match up better against than other people. And today was a matchup which was better for me. I probably matched up worse against my second-round opponent than what I did today. It's just some guys like playing other guys. Although the score line was relatively comfortable, you always have to be out there concentrating very hard and not letting them get into the match. These sort of guys, they get confidence and they know they can beat you. They're just as good as you. Q. Barry Flatman, Daily Express London. How do you match up against Tim? PATRICK RAFTER: How do I match up against Timmy? I think we're 2-all. I've played Tim a couple of times, and I'm someone who I consider myself plays quite steady. Tim, I found he can play very, very well or not as well, and you just hope that he's not playing as well on the day. But I think we have our moments, but when Tim plays very, very well, he's obviously one of the top guys in the world, one of the guys you want to avoid as well. But he does have his lapses, and I know that there is a chance. I do have a chance. Q. Ubaldo Scanagatta, when, if you could pick up an opponent, you would rather play a baseliner or a player like serve and volleyer like you would meet in the next round whether it's Arthurs or Henman? PATRICK RAFTER: Depends on the type --. Q. In terms of tactic, in terms of strategy, whatever? PATRICK RAFTER: Well, I'd prefer to play Agassi than Hewitt. And I mean they play quite similar styles of games, just there is a slight difference. There were some guys I had a lot, a lot of trouble with, some guys I didn't have trouble with or I feel a bit more comfortable playing that I know I have a better chance of beating. And those, someone like Henman or Safin, to me, I don't know. I never played Safin. But, you know, it sort of depends a bit on the day and you just match up against better guys. That wasn't a very good answer, but --. Q. The question was more related to the type of game, serve and volley players or baseliner players? They give you a different approach, mental or physical. PATRICK RAFTER: A lot depends on the surface as well and how they're playing. I guess I'd prefer to play Agassi than Sampras. (Laughing.) I don't know. Q. If Wayne wins tonight, playing against him, how would you feel? PATRICK RAFTER: What would I feel. Q. Could you preview that for us. PATRICK RAFTER: If it ends up being Wayne, then it's great for Wayne, it's great for Australia and the Australian Open that we can get two guys and we're going to get one guy through to the quarterfinals. So you look at it like that. But once you get on court, it's all business. All that sort of stuff's left behind and I get to face probably the best server in the game, I think is the best server in the game. Q. How have you found that in the past? PATRICK RAFTER: I haven't played him since satellites in '91 I think. Q. Who won? PATRICK RAFTER: I got him. It's been ten years.) Q. A young fellow in the chair, did you get any sort of -- did you see any response, any reaction from him when the shirt arrived? PATRICK RAFTER: No, I heard the crowd though. I didn't. I didn't know if he was young or old, I couldn't tell. Q. He's 50. PATRICK RAFTER: 50, yeah, I couldn't tell. (Smiles). Thanks. |