A. It was a really strange feeling going out there. There was a lot of mixed emotions for both of us, I think, and he was finding it tough to play me early on. The national anthem went up and you never see that unless you are playing Davis Cup, so it was a really strange feeling. I think the crowd sort of thought, who are we going for? We want a good match, but there was a lot on the line. So they were sort of having mixed emotions as well. But it was a great atmosphere, though, at the same time.

A. It has been a strange thing because we have all been saying, when is he going to win one? He is bordering, he is winning a lot of tournaments, but he is not winning the big matches yet. In semi-finals continually in big tournaments and then to do it all of a sudden within a couple of months and I guess it has been a little bit strange to see it happen so quickly. At the end of the day, he is only 20, youngest man ever, so, wow. I am sort of surprised and not surprised because we have been waiting for it for a while.

A. He does not miss. He reminds me of a Michael Chang, but better and stronger and quicker and he's - he's just a stronger version of Chang, I think, and Chang didn't miss there for quite a while and Lleyton has proved that you can be as small and fragile build as he is and be so damn good. I put a lot down to his mental tenacity as well.

A. In the last couple of games, I thought, stuff it, I am going for it. What does it matter now? I am at the end of the tournament. I started off serving lighter tonight than what I have. I did not serve volley. I tried to mix it up. That may have had something to do with it. Did the band have something to do with it that I had on early? The acupuncture that I have been doing is that helping? I have been trying to do a lot of things and I was experimenting with icing on the court, all of these things we are experimenting and seeing how they go. At the end I decided I'd go for my serve. As I said, I don't have any more matches here to play so if I blow it right out that is okay as well, because I will have a bit of rest on it and a lot of treatment to do over the next few days. I was really happy with the way it held up. It was throbbing a little bit, but not too bad. I wanted to serve again to see how I'd go again. So I am going to go and train again tomorrow to see if I can do two days in a row with it. I am going to stay around here now for a few more days to get the same treatment I have been getting. I am sort of really excited all of a sudden.

A. Lleyton gets to keep it for a year; I had it for a week. It is, it is great. He's a good mate and I am really happy for him, Newk as well. We are all sort of - we are all just really happy for Lleyton. As Guga said yesterday, I think he summed it up very well in the papers when he said if he gets it, he deserves it and he has proven it over the last few months.

A. Not in this case. I have - it's not as if I was playing for number one position either. I was just - it was a win or loss situation for me. If I lost, that is the way it goes. If I win, then that is great as well. But if I lost also it meant a great thing for Lleyton. At Wimbledon it was a huge disappointment for me.

A. Yes, I probably consider it 60/40 right now. I am just really happy, just excited right now. This is the best mood I have been in for a while.

A. To know that I can serve like that for a couple of games was exciting for me. I have not been able to do that pretty well since the US Open - oh, no, Davis Cup, excuse me. But even when I was training up in Queensland, I was not serving that hard. I could not do two days in a row serving hard. I was serving a bit firmer than what I am now, but not much harder.

A. I just try to do all the things I am doing and hope that what I am doing is the right thing. I still have certain people I need to see in Melbourne to check on other injuries and if it continues to get - or if it stays bad, I am also doing a lot of tests down in Melbourne, all the scans, MRIs, et cetera, to make sure the arm will be fine, but if over the next couple of days I am training and it feels good, I am not going to worry about doing them.

A. Well, as I said, I don't have a lot on the line for me and there is a lot more on the line for him. It is a strange mix of emotions out there at the same time. We are both - he was very tight, I could see that at the beginning, and I could not really hit my serve as well and I could not really play my style of game, so it was a sort of strange game in the beginning, but I was playing very well. I think his nerves went with - he sort of loosened up a little bit and I started missing the shots that I was making - I was actually hitting the ball very well before and then sort of came over. It was one of those sort of matches that it was hard for me to keep that style of tennis up. But it was exciting to be out there and playing, good atmosphere, I did not want to put in a bad match.

A. Yes.

A. Yes, it is good fun, very enjoyable.

A. It was strange when I was warming up, I had not practised it before and I could not hit a slice backhand over and it felt really weird. I thought I am not going to get through any games here at all with it on, but I stretched it out and persevered with it. It was still throbbing a bit, the arm, so I decided to take it off and try icing and see if that helped. I wasn't really happy with the way it felt at the beginning, though.

A. No.

A. Bloody quick, aren't I?

A. No, I knew I was not going to clear it. I was too close to it. Probably land on my bum.

A. Not really, no. Pretty happy. I've got Davis Cup, but touring matches and Davis Cup matches are the same. You are excited to play them, so maybe I am a bit more sentimental at the end of Davis Cup.

A. It has turned out to be a bit of a farce now, hasn't it? It has been a disappointing way to play it for me. It is been - it is been disappointing. If I went to Europe, I would have had the same problem playing matches. I would have had to come back early because of my arm, and here was a situation I have been trying to make all year. By the US Open I knew that I was probably pretty well in. I was very excited to make it. I was very pumped up to play in Australia. So it had a lot of sentimental value for me to be here. With the sore arm it sort of put me in a bad mood and now I am a bit better.

A. No. I am - no alcohol and no chocolate for me until after the Davis Cup, yeah, that is my two little things. No, listen, we have a big couple of weeks. Looks like you are celebrating, though. You had a beer in your hand, didn't you?

A. Last Davis Cup.

A. Yes, I could probably script it better and say that I win it. That would have been a nicer script. But it may not be the case. It might be a very, very disappointing way to finish. It will be a big high or a big low, but it is a nice opportunity to put myself in.

A. It is going to be very tough for Lleyton to have that status, I think. He's sort of vertically challenged a little bit, just in a lot of areas. He just has to work so hard the whole time that it makes it very difficult for him. It's very hard to keep that style of tennis up for many years. So, I think he can definitely win six, seven, eight slams. Is that greatness? I reckon it is pretty bloody good.

A. Shit, yeah, but is it Pete Sampras, 13 slams sort of thing? You know, it is going to be very hard to see him do that, but you never know. He keeps coming up with surprises all the time.

A. Definitely, just sweep them aside, I think. No, listen, every Davis Cup match is tough. We go in there expecting the worst, I guess, in a way. You can never underestimate any of your opponents when you play for your country. Everyone seems to find another lift in their game, another spring in their step when they play for their country and I don't expect France to be any different. I expect them to come out very hard, very fast and we are going to have to stay with them. I think on paper we are probably the better team. We are confident, we are strong, so we hope we will win it.

A. The grass, well, I think the grass will help. I think it is in our favour, that is for sure.

A. Well, it sort of hurt a little bit, but it sort of held up. It's holding up, but it's definitely hurting and I just got to, you know, do my best and just trying to play as much as I can and find my rhythm. I felt like I played pretty well tonight, just couldn't get the snap on my serve that I would have wanted.

A. The match play is what I need, but I am playing the Masters here, so it's not as if it's a non-event. I busted my arse to get here all year and I get in a situation that's disappointing that my arm is feeling this way, but I'm not going to, you know - it's the Masters, I'm not playing a challenger here. I think you have to realize that, Lynda.

A. Well, there's a fine line, but I need to keep playing. I think it's pretty important.

A. Yeah, it is, but I also - I need to be competitive. I need to try and win and I need that for my confidence as well, to know that I can go out there and win and that's what I'm trying to do. The arm I'm trying different things with it, I'm trying to see if this works or that works, so I'm going through a lot of different options right now. So it's in a bit of an experimental stage with it, yeah, but I'm not going to make it easy for Lleyton either. You know, I want to try and get some games and get some matches and the arm's not going to break, it's not going to snap. I feel like nothing's going to tear and I've had this problem for many, many years and it's come and gone, but it's sticking around a little bit longer than what I'd like it to.

A. It's a throbbing pain. On contact I can't come over the ball, I can't get the kick on the serve. It's very hard to snap at the top and they're the ones that really hurt and then after a while it just, as the match progresses, it throbs and just aches more and more, and then it's sort of hard to hang on to the racket. You lose all power and it settles down after about a minute and then you can go again, but then as you keep going it sort of hurts. But it's only on the serve. Everything else is fine.

A. Probably, yeah, probably is a fraction worse, yeah. Today I was - I probably served a lot higher percentage of first serves which was a little bit better for my arm, so I didn't have to do so many seconds serves and that helped, but, you know, I felt like I hit the ball pretty well. I'm hitting the ball well and that's what I'm aiming to do here as well, is coming out knowing that I'm hitting the ball well.

A. It's a terrible way. It's awful. I was thinking that at change of ends today, that it's a very disappointing way to possibly finish my career, but, you know, what can I do about it? I don't know. I've tried everything and I've got to work hard. I've been working hard, so I feel like everything is coming into place, except this bloody arm. It's disappointing.

A. You haven't seen me on the practice court. When I get on the practice court, it's very, very frustrating. I'm glad I don't practice anywhere where you guys can see, I'm a different person altogether. It's just very frustrating. When I'm on the court, I got goals out there as well that I'm trying to achieve. Even though it is hurting I still want to go and try and win and certain parts of the game I still can work on.

A. It will be his decision. I'll let him know exactly how I stand and how it's going, but I'll be going down to see my medical people in Melbourne that I've had a lot of dealings with, so we're hoping for something to come up through there as well.

A. There's always a doubt. I think it's fair to say there could be doubt, yeah. But right now I'm trying to stay as positive as I can with it and I don't think I've got much else to go on, and really look after myself, but I need to keep hitting balls as well. I need to keep it going. It's a fine line.

A. That's definitely a possibility as well. I'll do anything, yeah, to get through.

A. No. I told Ivan he's bloody useless, too. But he looked good on TV, didn't he?

A. I thought Sebastien played very well. I played him a year and a half ago and I think he's improved. You know, we all have our good days and bad days and I think that Sebastien actually had a very good day as well. He had very good rhythm on his serve. On my serving, it's probably not the hardest serve to return right now, but he made a lot of returns and he moves very well. He's a great athlete and he hits his forehand well, so, yeah, I think he played very well.

A. That's a good question because the grass generally requires a bit of a different action on my serve. It may actually help it and I do realize that - I do remember, actually, that when I played at Wimbledon and got on the grass that I don't kick the serve as much and it did tend to ease up when I got on the grass. I was taking tablets during Wimbledon as well and they were probably a bit more effective than what they are being right now, but I hadn't thought of that, so that's another thing I can be positive about.

A. I'll try and have positive energy right now.

Tennis Masters Cup 2001 – Sydney Patrick Rafter v. Andre Agassi

Q. Pat, how much is that a step up from practising hard with Tony Roche to actually getting out there and having a hard match? Big difference in the legs?

A. Yes, it’s always different. Playing matches and actual training is different, but the ball comes through differently as well, but I’ve been here training with Lleyton for a little bit as well and I’ve copped a few lessons from Lleyton all week as well, but it was good. It was a good match to get into it and I just started playing a bit better at the end, so it hopefully gives me confidence to go into the next match.

Q. How did you come through physically?

A. Which way do you mean?

Q. Arm.

A. The arm’s okay. It’s a little bit better, but it’s still - I need to get another 25 per cent right. Still serving probably only about 75 per cent out there and just not getting the kick on the serve that I want to get out of his hitting zone and the arm wouldn’t hold up for three matches if I was to do that now. But it’s good, though, just trying to work on rhythm right now, but Andre - if you’re not serving and you’re hitting your spots and haven't got that little bit of extra bite on your serve, he'll make you pay for it and today he did that.

Q. All things taken into consideration, not having played so much and the arm and everything, how much did you expect coming in to this event?

A. Well, you never like to lose, you know. It's not a good feeling losing. I feel a little bit down, a little bit disappointed. I would like to have gotten probably a bit closer, gotten myself in a situation where I had a chance of winning, but that didn't happen today. Yeah, but it gives you more incentive to work hard, I guess, but, you know, I don't know. I probably played more tennis than what Andre has in the last few weeks as well. Since the US Open, I played a couple of Davis Cup matches and I've been training a couple of weeks as well and Andre probably only played a few matches when he went to Europe and I don't know how much training he's done after that either, but we're probably on a level par there in terms of conditioning and how we're hitting the ball, but you still want to win. You don't go out there for second place.

Q. Is it fair to say, Pat, that the kind of frustration and the way you displayed it is so self evident because you're struggling a little bit to be exactly where you want to be. When things don't exactly go according to plan, you get a little, perhaps, carried away, perhaps, more than you normally do?

A. I guess the emotions of being a bit down are a little bit different because you want to be out there giving it your all and you're fighting hard and I was fighting hard, but just can't give it my all right now. That's the disappointing bit. But I'm here to get a lot of good matches. I'm here to win, to try and get confidence, and I'm here to sharpen up my game. That's for sure. So hopefully all those things will happen and the arm will get better as well before this week's out.

Q. Did you see any of the first match and what are you expecting for your next match against Sebastien?

A. Yeah, it's just a little bit different to Andre. He played very well in the first set. He was very aggressive. He's a very talented player. He's very flashy and he returns well and he actually served pretty well and I think that's one part of his game that he's improved a bit is his serve and Grosjean probably was coming in here feeling pretty confident, having won Paris, so I'm expecting another very tough match. I find them not quite similar, but he doesn't blast the winners off the return like Andre does. He makes you play a tough volley, little bit like Lleyton, makes you play the low ones, so I'm going to get plenty of practice with the low volleys and hopefully I can come out of it okay.

Q. He's sort of sneaked into this event and possibly would sneak into the French Davis Cup side as well. Does that in effect help you actually have a chance of seeing him at close quarters here with a view to what's happening in a couple of weeks' time?

A. Yeah, I think I answered this sort of question the other day. It does and it doesn't. I mean, you want to get maybe a little bit of an edge, you know, get a bit of a win on him and maybe that will help psychologically. The court is very different. We're going to go into an arena that is a lot more conducive to the Australian Davis Cup team rather than the French Davis Cup team and there's a possibility he will be playing and we all understand and I'm pretty sure he will be among the team anyway, amongst the four. He's the in-form player in France and they don't have a lot of options - they do, but in terms of form, they're probably struggling a little bit with their form coming into who they want to play on grass.

Patrick Rafter round table interview 11 November 2001

"My shoulder is pretty good. It could always be better, but I'm looking forward to the matches. I've enjoyed my break and feel strong mentally."

(On his match against Agassi)
"I'm always a little scared playing Andre because he's one of the guys on tour that can blow you off the court. I'm looking forward to it. We've had some great battles and I enjoy the match up. It's going to be a lot of fun. You have to play very well to beat Andre, and if you don't play well and he does, it can be a very embarrassing night."

(On his break from tennis next year)
"I've always kept my options open. A lot of people retire and then come back and I don't want to do that. I've been counting down all year for the last two events (Tennis Masters Cup and Davis Cup final). They are very big events."

"I've been just trying to get really fit. After Davis Cup, I went up to Noosa and just started training pretty well on physical fitness for about three weeks and I rested the arm and tried to come back just hitting tennis balls."

(On the other players in his round robin group)
"I have a lot of respect for Lleyton's game. He's a great player, and Andre's game, well there is not anyone out there more dangerous than Andre, and Sebastien is tough. There are no easy matches

AN INTERVIEW WITH PAT RAFTER

Q: You qualified for the season-ending championship, the ATP Tour World Championship, as it was known then, and the Grand Slam Cup before. What was it like to play those events?

RAFTER: You know you are going to have your good weeks and your bad weeks and when you have your good weeks, you hope they are in the big tournaments like the Grand Slams. That's where you get your big points and where you try to make it. Also the Masters Series events, you try to have a good run, win a couple and then you feel like you are a good chance. But, it is tough because there are probably 15 guys out there, it was last year, that were capable of making it up to three weeks before.

To be part of the eight was a good accomplishment at the end of the year. Playing in Australia is something that hopefully I can make this year.

Q: An event like the Tennis Masters Cup is a perfect showcase for men's tennis, isn't it?

RAFTER: It ended perfectly last year. I don't think the ATP could have done it better themselves. It was great the way it finished, it was great tennis and there was a great champion (Gustavo Kuerten). I think it worked very well last year and I think they are hoping for the same in Sydney.

Q: How important is it for Sydney and Australia to be hosting the elite eight of men's tennis with the Tennis Masters Cup?

RAFTER: It is definitely good for Sydney that's for sure. We have to also hope we get an Australian there as well, that will really help the event. Sydney in the past has gotten behind the tennis players, and if you see the guys like Lleyton (Hewitt), hopefully myself, maybe Mark (Philippoussis), definitely Agassi, Sampras, those sort of guys, people are going to come out and watch them and you are going to get good tennis.

It is definitely one of my goals this year to try and make it and play in Sydney. That would be a great tournament to play in, see how we go after that.