Happy Ever Rafter  thanks Emily
Pat Rafter's easy-going nature makes him one of the most popular players in the game. But after a career dogged with injury he feels it's time for a break. John Roberts talks to him about his decision.

Wherever Pat Rafter happens to be this time next year, he is sure to be at Wimbledon in spirit if not in person, a gallery of unforgettable images filling his mind. "You walk in there and see the haze that crosses every court, and it's a very special feeling," he says. "To me, WImbledon has always had an incredible aura about it. It's defintely the grass roots of tennis."
The 28-year-old Australian has paced his season in the hope that his injury-ravaged body will withstand the rigours of the world's major championships before treating himself to an indefinite break at the end of the year. Wimbledon, where last year he was the runner-up to Pete Sampras, the perennial champion, has been the uppermost in Rafter's calculations. "It's the big one for me," he says. "If I didn't think I'd be ready for Wimbledon I would have played some more tournaments."
Rafter's history of physical problems, and how he has coped with them, even made the cover of a recent edition of The Waiting Room (as in visiting the doctor). He has been troubled by aches and pains throughout his 10-year professional career, some more serious than others.
His rise to number one in July 1999 was followed three months later by arthroscopic surgery to his right shoulder, keeping him out action for two months at the beginning of last year and leaving him with the feeling that he was playing on borrowed time. This season, which may prove to be his last, he has been hampered by tendinitis in his right wrist.
"We've all got little problems," he says. "The wrist is still playing up. I have my physio and my chiropractor with me, so hopefully things will settle down. But the wrist is something that I'm probably going to have to play with the whole year."
At the end of which he plans to put his racquets away and relax. That is as far as the planning goes, although he acknowledges that this, his ninth consecutive visit to Wimbledon, may be his last campaign here.
"That's a possibility," he says. "As I've said, it's going to be an indefinite break. I don't want to totaly retire. The reason I said that was I really see myself playing again. The Australian Open is my home tournament, and I thought I might not be able to play back in Australia again and I wanted to let them know. I didn't want to start at the beginning of the year, but I thought I owed it to the Australian public. But I really want to take a big break and, and i I'm taking a big break, realistically Wimbledon's probably not a tournament you can come back to just play in. You're going to need a lot of matches and a lot fo tough tennis and a lot of fitness work. I'd like to take six months off and reflect on it and see what I want to do."
Which presumably will include involvement in tennis? "Oh mate, I've absolutely no idea," he says. "I want to stop the travelling just a little bit, too. If I do travel, I want to put my bags down for three months or two mohths. I don't want to be picking up my bags every week and moving on. I find it very difficult."
In commond with most players, Rafter finds that travelling can be one of the most demanding parts of the sport. "It is", he says. "Most of the flights are long ones, too; they're not easy flights. A lot of the hassle is in checking in at the airports, the flights generally, and getting into a different country and staying in a little hotel room. It can get to you after a while."
Before the advent of Open tennis in 1968 and the evolution of a continent-shuttling international professional tour, Rafter's illustrious Australian predecessor's, such as Frank Sedgman, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Neale Fraser and Fred Stolle, tended to make gradual migrations to tournaments around the globe, sometimes by sea.
"I think they were able to base themselves a little more," Rafter says. "Mind you, I'd prefer to do what we're doing than what they did back then. I wouldn't like to send six weeks on a ship. If you look at what's changed, I think it's for the better in terms of travelling. But listen, I guess these are just the negatives of the tour. It's a great tour, it's a lot of fun, and I'm grateful to be playing tennis. Don't get me wrong. I guess I am bitching about little things. They seem petty, but after a while you get a little bored of it."
Rafter has won $10m in official prize money alone, and has earned additional millions from sponsorships and endorsements. He is one of the most popular players in the game, among spectators and fellow competitors alike, and his athleticism is matched by a personable, easy-going nature that marks him out as a typical Aussie bloke. He seemed to get as big a kick from carrying the Olympic torch past Sydney Opera House on the eve of the 2000 Games as winning prestigious tournaments. However, even a charmed existence can be hectic.
"Also," Rafter says, "you've got pressure on you in games. You never want to put in a bad performance, and you're a disappointment some days when it's not there. I sort of felt that way about that match with Pete last year at WImbledon."
The final was a triumph for Sampras, the American's victory, 6-7 7-6 6-4 6-2, securing his seventh title in eight years anda record 13th Grand SLam singles title in total, one more than the Australian Roy Emerson.
Sampras, the top seed, did not face a seeded opponent before playing Rafter, the 12th seed, in the final, although the defending champion did have to contend with the effects of a shin injury throught the tournament. Rafter, while fill with admiration for Sampras' achievement, recalls that the match contained some "really ugly tennis; not fun to watch, not fun to play either".
Bad weather delayed the start until 3.28pm, and play was interrypted twice by rain before Sampras and Rafter resumed at 6.33pm, by which time the first set was still alive, although 'alive' would not be Rafter's choice of word. "No one made a return in the first wo sets," he says. Rafter, nontheless, won the first set tie-break, 12-10, after Sampras twice double-faulted, and the Australian also led 4-1 and 4-2 in the second set tie-break, only to be the one to double-fault this time. Sampras won the shoot-out, 7-5. His title was safe. Rafter had missed his opportunity.
"I couldn't control my nerves," he admits. "I didn't expect to ddo as well as I'd done that quickly after the shoulder operation. And when I had myself in the position to win there, I guess I didn't believe in myself." After that it became a questin of which fell first, Rafter or darkness.
At 8.57pm, Sampras provided the answer, delivering an unreturnable serveon his first match point. "It doesn't take much for a match to turn," Rafter muses, "and when you're playing the top guy, one of the best grass court players of all time, if they have an opportunity, they're going to take it."
Rafter decided not to appeal against the light because he did not feel there was much to be gained by coming back the next day. "The match was on it's way to over," he says. "Pete was on top, and once he's on top on grass he's nearly impossible to beat. It was very, very dark, but I think I owed it more to everyone there to finish the match."
The dark clouds which had been hanging over Wimbledonwithout breaking for most of the tournament may have dampened the men's final as a spectacle, but RAfter's five-set victory against Andre Agassi in the semi-finals was a classic, at least in teh eyes of the beholders. Agassi was not particularly impressed with his own performance.
"Andre definitely didn't hit the ball as well as he did the year before when I played him," Rafter says. " I still think that's what made it sucha good match - that he didn't play so well," he adds, chcukling. "I guess we combine pretty well, because I don't serve like Pete, so it gives Andre a chance to return. And if I can get in on his serve i like to rally a bit, Stretch the points our and work my way to the net. So we combine a little differently to the way Andre and Pete combine with each other."
Sampras' mastery on the lawns is almost taken for granted. "He's got one hell of a serve on it," Rafter says. "He hits his first and second serve as hard as eah other, and he volleys well behind it. It's just very, very difficult to break a guy like that. His returns are not that sharp on the grass. He returns well when he has to. You'll always get close. But to break his serve down is nearly impossible."
A couple of years ago, during one of Rafter's post-match press interviews at the Italian Open in Rome, I asked him a convuluted questin about his footwork on the various surfaces: concrete, clay, grass, indoor carpet and hard court. An Italian interpreter looked anxiously at Rafter and said, "Sorry but I dont' understand the question". Rafter smiled at her and said: "Put down what you like. You're lovely."
Rafter has won the United Stated Open single title back-to-back on the concrete at Flushing Meadows, New York, but triumph has eluded him on at the Australian Open on the rubberised conrete courts at Melbourne Park. Moreover, although his attacking game seems tailored for Wimbledon's lawns, he has tended to lack confidence in his movement on the surface.
"I've always found grass strange," he says. "I've never been able to move naturally on it. I move on the sides of my feet, and you've got to move on the whole of your foot. That's what I've found, and I've always felt like I'm going to trip over on the grass. I was a little bit steadier on my feet last year than the years before. I sort of started getting the hang of it."
The Australian Open was also played on grass until the switch to concrete in 1988, four year before Rafter's Grand Slam debut. Did he play much on grass while growing up in the game? "Not really. I probably played two tournaments a year on grass. It started to die out as I was coming through. Antbed (flattened ant beds) was a very popular surface. It was very slippery. WE learnt how to slide, which i always thought was very important. And then people went to hard courts ery quickly. They are the two surfaces I mainly grew up on. But I always enjoyed diving and jumping around on the grass courts."
Pat CAsh, in 1987, was the last player from Australian grass-court tradition to win the WImbledon men's singles title. "He had more a clasic serve-volley game than I have," RAfter says. ",He had the ultimate grass-court style, and there weren't too many guys in the world better on it than he was." Cash was adept at bending his knees and digging out winning shots from awkward low bounces. "He was a great athlete," Rafter says, "and it caught up on him. He was a finely tuned athlete that he sort of broke down."
Without putting too fine a point on it Rafter is another with determined, athletic, crowd-pleasing approach to the game. "I guess I've been really lucky to have that style," he says. "When I was a kid I was quite small, so I never knew I was going to grow quite this tall (6ft 1inch) or be lucky to have the athletic ability that I've had genetically. I grew up with attitude that whatever you do, go as hard as you can. And I've been able to keep my enjoyment of the game."
He is also blessed with a dry sense of humour. Last November, while I was interviewing him at the Paris Indoor Masters Series event, Rafter voiced concern about the health problems of Lleyton Hewitt, his hugely gifted young compatriot. Hewitt, battling against a viral infection, seemed in need of a break. ALthough lacking the qualifications to prescribe so much as a glass of Lucozade, I pressed on earnestly and at length, emphasising to Rafter that it was imperative for Hewitt to rest and undergo a thorough medical examination, even though he was due to play the Masters Cup in Lisbon and the Davis Cup final in Barcalona. Rafter gave me an old-fashioned look and said: "You'd make a great father, wouldn't you?"
The man's equilibrioum probably stems from a no-nonsense family background. He was born in Mount Isa, Queensland, the third youngest of nine children, six boys, three girls, and is now based in Pembroke,Bermuda, where his preferred mode of transport is a moped. For a time Rafter chose not to travel with a full-time coach, preferring the company of one of his brother's while touring, and consulting John Newcombe and Tony Roche when needing specific advice about his game. Roche, Australia's Davis Cup coach when Newcombe was captain, accomanies Rafter to the major championships.
"I respect Tony like a brother or a father," Rafter says. "He is very calming, he is positive and he is good tactically as well. He will tell you just one or two things, but he doesn't try to fill your mind with a lot of things. He keeps things simple and keeps your mind clear."
The Centre Court at the All England Club may not be the biggest arena in the world. That distinction, if such it is, belongs to the Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows, the scene of Rafter's victories against Britains Greg Rusedski in 1997, and Mark Philippoussis, a fellow Australian, in 1998.
But there are many reason's why Rafter will think of Wimbledon wherever he is next June. "And people are responible for that as well, my word they are. You hear things about people only coming out for Wimbledon because it's Wimbledon and not necessarily because they are tennis fans and love tennis. But they know the game. They know whats going on."
One of his vivid memories will be of people camping outside the grounds ovenight for the chance to buy a ticket. "They were outside my door last year," Rafter sats, "I had the house John Newcombe used to stay in, right on the corner." And did he say G'day? "No, I put my head down. I didn't want anybody to know I was staying there."

All's not well as Rafter faces the elbow in likely Wimbledon farewell

By Linda Pearce in London

Pat Rafter is preparing for perhaps his last tilt at Wimbledon on a diet of anti-inflammatory tablets, massage and ice treatment for his chronic elbow injury.

The same problem that forced the Australian to retire from his Davis Cup singles in Brazil in April and flared again during the World Team Cup a month ago has restricted Rafter's serving practice and forced him to train through the discomfort this week.

It is yet another sign of the wear and tear that may help to contribute to his early exit from the game. There have been no signs of the cramps that crippled his Davis Cup and Australian Open ambitions, but adding to the right elbow inflammation he first suffered at the age of 14 and occasional wrist tendonitis is the regular maintenance still required for the right shoulder that required surgery almost two years ago.

"Not bad," is Rafter's physical self-assessment, but he is notoriously reluctant to discuss his ailments.

"I haven't been able to do a lot of work on my serve and that sort of thing because of my arm, so I'm just going to have to go out there and serve and play, and if the arm's sore, the arm's sore.

"If I don't [practice] my game's not going to be sharp and I'm going to pay the consequences anyway."

Since his elimination in the first round of the French Open after holding a two-set lead against Wayne Arthurs, Rafter has been upset in the semi-finals in Halle, Germany, by Fabrice Santoro and then, on Tuesday at the Den Bosch tournament he has owned for the past three years, Rafter fell to the Dutchman Peter Wessels.

For a player who thrives on playing matches, the Wimbledon lead-up has been unsatisfactorily lean, although the 28-year-old said the ramifications would not be clear for another fortnight.

Rafter plays Daniel Vacek, the lowly ranked Czech he defeated in Halle last week, in the first round, and shares a quarter of the draw with Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

"I guess I'll be able to tell you after Wimbledon," said the third seed.

"I'm someone who loves playing matches, so it is a little bit disappointing, but I've got to make the best of the situation."

Even so, Rafter has been nominated by seven-time champion Pete Sampras as one of his main title threats again this year.

"Rafter would love to win it on his last year of playing - supposedly," Sampras said with more than a hint of scepticism about any possible retirement.

"And Wayne Arthurs could be a dark horse there. He's got a huge serve, probably the biggest serve in the game."

It was enough in the quarter-finals of the Nottingham Open, however, with Reuters reporting that Arthurs fired down 24 aces and still failed to beat the equally impressive Thomas Johansson.

The Swedish third seed held his nerve for a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3) victory and will meet 1997 champion Greg Rusedski in the semi-final.

Top seed Lleyton Hewitt brushed past three-time Wimbledon runner-up Goran Ivanisevic 6-4 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the Heineken Trophy in Den Bosch.

Hewitt was followed into the next round by his girlfriend, women's top seed Kim Clijsters, with a tidy 6-3 6-4 win over Kristina Brandi of the US. Clijsters will next meet Jelena Dokic, who disposed of fifth seed Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia 6-2 6-0 in just 42 minutes.

Friday 22 June 1:29 PM

Rafter ready for last Wimbledon: brother
By Trevor Marshallsea

Pat Rafter is irritable, as physically sound as he could hope, and in general ready to give his all in what is likely to be his last Wimbledon.

That's the assessment of the man who knows him best, his brother and manager Peter, as Rafter strives to make up for the heartache of losing last year's final.

Rafter, plagued of late by a series of injuries, has said he will take a break from tennis at the end of year, which most assume will mean his retirement.

And the 28-year-old dual US Open winner, who last week admitted to "choking" against Pete Sampras in his only Wimbledon final, is bearing in mind that this will probably be the last time he savours the grass of the All England Club.

"This could be his last one and he's thinking of that, for sure," said Peter Rafter, who has seen his younger brother's injury woes mount in the six months since he spoke of retirement.

"He is going to take a break from the game, and unfortunately I think a break means retirement, because he's not going to come back from a break.

"He's not one of those guys who retires and then misses the game and makes a comeback. He wants to retire and retire for good."

Rafter, seeking to continue a sequence at Wimbledon after reaching the semi-final and final in the past two editions, may be of calm mind over his future, but has this week been positively cranky around the house.

This is a good sign, according to his brother, who has seen him prepare for big tournaments enough to know it means he is switched on.

"He's uptight, so that's a good sign," said Peter, confessing to "giving him a wide berth" when he gets this way.

"He's like this before Davis Cup ties as well. He's focused. Little things trigger him off. It's a good thing."

There is also some good gleaned by the Rafter camp over his exit at the first hurdle when chasing four straight Rosmalen titles in Holland on Tuesday.

"It was disappointing to him but the positives are that he got here early to practice," said Peter, who watched Patrick hit for an hour with coach Tony Roche using the third seed's privilege of a championship court.

"He'd got some good matches in at Halle (Germany) on grass the week before, and he is hitting the ball well."

Rafter is still suffering some inflammation in his right arm, which has plagued him since his 1999 shoulder operation and which forced a withdrawal at the World Teams Cup in Dusseldorf last month.

But the Queenslander -- who starts his Wimbledon tilt next Tuesday against lowly ranked Czech Daniel Vacek, a vanquished opponent in Halle -- has Davis Cup physiotherapist Andrea Bizas with him.

And with daily treatment he expects to be fit enough for the seven matches it would take to win the title.

"He's got a few niggling injuries, but it's nothing that's going to stop him from performing," Peter Rafter said.

"He's got Andrea with him to align his body. It's no worse than in Dusseldorf, but it's still there."

Rafter will head a relatively small seven-man Australian contingent into Wimbledon.

The women's singles features four Aussies -- Alicia Molik, Evie Dominikovic, Nicole Pratt and Rach

Pat: I must lift or forget Wimbledon
By LEO SCHLINK in London
21jun01

PAT Rafter has warned his Wimbledon campaign will fail unless he lifts significantly after a shock first-round loss to Dutchman Peter Wessels at the Heineken Trophy in Rosmalen yesterday.

Seeded third at Wimbledon, Rafter plunged to his first defeat in three years and 16 matches at Rosmalen with a 6-4 7-5 loss to grasscourt specialist Wessels, the first-round opponent for Andre Agassi at Wimbledon.
"Today I was probably a little bit flat in my match, so if I'm going to be like that, then Wimbledon won't be successful for me," Rafter said.

"I'm going to have to lift my game.

"I'm somebody who loves to play matches, so it's very disappointing not to play here.

"I'm going to get over there (England) and make the best of the situation. I struggled a little bit, so I need to sharpen up a little bit."

Rafter is expected to descend on Aorangi Park, the practice annexe at Wimbledon, today and begin repairs to his grasscourt reputation which has taken a slight battering over the past five days with losses to Frenchman Fabrice Santoro and Wessels.

Rafter has ventured to Wimbledon for the past three years as Heineken champion, turning that impressive form into strong second-week finishes . . . fourth round, semi-finalist and last year, finalist.

The perfection-seeking Queenslander did not appear excessively depressed by the loss to Wessels, whose best results have come on grass and include a nail-biting triumph over world No. 4 Marat Safin at Queen's last week.

But the warrior in Rafter is such that straight-sets losses to men such as Wessels, ranked No. 91 in the world, do not sit well.

There will be no fiercer competitor on the practice courts this week.

"I'm just going out there now to get stuck into it," Rafter said with signature conviction.

Rafter had been bidding for a record-equalling fourth title at Rosmalen. Only two other active players ¨C Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Moscow) and Pete Sampras (Wimbledon) ¨C have won the same tournament four years in succession.

Rafter's demise came as Queen's Club champion Lleyton Hewitt continued his outstanding form by monstering Italian Davide Sanguinetti 6-2 6-1 at Rosmalen.

But Victorian Andrew Ilie fell 6-7 (9-11) 6-1 6-1 to Belgian Yves Allegro, while South Australian Dejan Petrovic was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Moroccan Hicham Arazi.

Belgian Gilles Elseneer confirmed his dark horse rating at the All-England Club with a 5-7 7-5 6-0 margin over Wimbledon semi-finalist Vladimir Voltchkov.

AUSTRALIANS Nicole Pratt and Rachel McQuillan both bowed out at Rosmalen yesterday.

Pratt lost to Dutch opponent Miriam Oremans 2-6 6-3 6-2 while McQuillan bowed out in a 7-5 6-0 loss to Germany's Marlene Weingartner.

Queenslander Lisa McShea won her first-round match of Wimbledon qualifying, but Kerry-Anne Guse and Bryanne Stewart were both eliminated at the first hurdle ¨C as was 1999 Wimbledon semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic.

Rafter chases consistency
London, England, June 19 – Fan favourite has high hopes of adding to his Grand Slam swag.

If the men’s Wimbledon champion was selected by the volume of shrieks from admiring female fans, it would be Pat Rafter rather than Pete Sampras with seven titles to his name.

Few players have set more hearts aflutter than the skin-headed Aussie with the designer stubble.

The attention focused on him at Grand Slam events, where crowds are invariably larger and more vocal than the run-of-the-mill tour events, perhaps explains why Rafter often saves his best for the big occasion.

He and Britain’s two top players -- Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski -- have very similar tour records, for example in terms of titles won, but Rafter is in a different class when Grand Slam records are compared.

Two US Open titles, the second at the expense of Rusedski in the final, were followed by a brilliant Wimbledon run last year, ended only by the robot-like Sampras in the final.

Had Rafter won then, even without his rock-star looks there would have been fewer more popular foreign victors.

The 28-year-old lives in Bermuda for much of the year, but maintains close links with his native Australia where he is regarded as one of sport’s philanthropists.

Rafter is a spokesman for an Australian environmental group and a regular contributor to good causes.

Each of his US Open titles were followed by donations of 300,000 Australian dollars to hospitals in Brisbane, and his sister Louise runs the Patrick Rafter Cherish the Children Foundation which he set up two years ago.

For all his previous success, however, Rafter’s main struggle is maintaining consistency.

He turned pro a decade ago but his career has been hampered by several injuries. In 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2000 Rafter was forced to sit out months of the tour each time with first wrist and then shoulder injuries.

Trouble with his shoulder cost him the chance of a hat-trick of US Open wins and the surgery that followed forced him to miss last year’s Australian Open.

It was only at Wimbledon last year that Rafter proved the operation had not robbed him of his old panache.

Britain’s Jamie Delgado was his first victim on the way to the final, though the most memorable match was the semi-final when he and Andre Agassi traded blow after blow before the Australian finally triumphed in the fifth set.

After that, the final against Sampras was something of an anti-climax.

But the 12 months following that near-miss have once more highlighted his inconsistency.

A thrilling five-set semi-final defeat by Agassi in the Australian Open -- the American getting his revenge for Wimbledon -- was the high-point in a year of many lows, beginning with a dismal first-round exit in the US Open to unknown Spaniard Galo Blanco and culminating in another first-round defeat in the French Open at the hands of countryman Wayne Arthurs.

In the tour tournaments too Rafter has struggled with his form and he has yet to reach a final this year.

Perhaps he needs the atmosphere of Wimbledon, the screams and the adulation, to find that spark once again.