Rafter
gives strong retirement hint
Source: Associated Press
Publication date: 2002-02-26
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Two-time U.S. Open champion Pat Rafter has dropped his
strongest hint yet that he won't return to tennis when his current break from
the game ends.
Appearing late Monday on Australian Broadcasting Corp. television, Rafter
dropped the word ``retirement'' which he has carefully avoided using previously
to describe his self-imposed exile from competitive tennis.
``I really don't want to say anything because if I do say something now, next
time we have a media conference they'll say `you said that you weren't going to
come back,''' he said when asked about his future. ``Put it this way. I am
enjoying retirement a lot.''
Rafter also said he considered he was fated not to win Wimbledon, the one goal
thought capable of luring him back. He lost last year's Wimbledon final to wild
card Goran Ivanisevic -- his second successive Wimbledon final defeat.
Coach Tony Roche has said Rafter would have to return to tennis by April is he
wants another shot at the title.
But that doesn't appear to be on the agenda for 29-year-old Rafter whose partner
Lara Feltham is expecting their first child in July.
``I put a lot of things down to a bit of fate,'' he said. ``Some things are just
meant to be and some things just aren't and I consider Wimbledon to be one of
those things that will probably elude me.''
He said he ``choked'' against Pete Sampras in the 2000 final, after winning the
first set and going 4-2 up in the second set tie-break, because he never
expected to get so far so soon after returning from shoulder surgery.
But Rafter said he'd been confident he would beat Goran Ivanisevic in last
year's thrilling five-set final.
|
| SYDNEY, Feb 6 AAP - Tony Roche, the coach of
Pat Rafter, has given his charge until April if he's to make a comeback in
time for Wimbledon. Rafter, the Australian of The Year has taken an "indefinite break" from tennis, last playing in Australia's Davis Cup final loss to France in December. The injury-plagued Queenslander missed the Australian Open, and has spent his time off travelling overseas and playing host to friends from Bermuda, where he has a house. With the news last month that his partner Lara Feltham was expecting a baby in July, doubts have continued to grow about the 29-year-old returning to tennis. Roche, his personal coach since 1997 and long-time confidante, was courtside for Rafter's heartbreaking run of losses at Wimbledon. Rafter lost in four sets to Pete Sampras in the 2000 final and last year was beaten by Goran Ivanisevic in five sets in one of Wimbledon's most memorable finals. Roche, who was Australian Davis Cup team coach until 2000, said he hadn't spoken recently to Rafter about his plans, but said the dual US Open champion would have to make a decision soon if he intended another crack at the coveted grass court title. "I'd say by April he'll have to make a decision whether he's going to make a comeback or not (for Wimbledon)," Roche said. "I haven't spoken to him, he's a hard man to catch. He's just enjoying his time off, he's seeing a lot of Australia which is what he's always wanted to do and he's got some good friends out here and he's spending a lot of time with them." Roche said he had been approached by other players, including Briton Tim Henman, about taking on another personal coaching position but wasn't interested. "I had a few approaches earlier in the year but I'm pretty much involved here in Australia with the Optus junior teams and I'll be spending the whole year here, unless Rafter comes back I may go to Wimbledon," Roche said. |
Rafter living in land of Oz
05feb02
AUSTRALIAN-of-the-year Pat Rafter is a Queenslander again, his father said yesterday.
"I am sure Pat would think that as far as he is concerned he has clarified this issue that he is no longer a resident of Bermuda," Jim Rafter said.
"He is living back here now and is staying here."
Mr Rafter was responding to critics of Rafter's selection as top citizen who said the honour should go to someone who lived in Australia.
Mr Rafter also hit back at claims his son used his base in Bermuda simply to avoid tax.
"They pay tax on winnings in the countries they play in, and pay tax on sponsorships if they specifically come from one country," he said.
The decision to base himself in Bermuda had been a practical one.
"A lot of the players do it because if you are from Australia or South Africa it is a long way to come home from the tournaments in Europe or America," Mr Rafter said.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie yesterday said he wanted Rafter to live in Queensland but he understood the criticism because Rafter was representative of Australians whose careers had taken them overseas.
"We are becoming a global people," Mr Beattie said.
"That's why I am tolerant and understanding."
Mr Beattie said no matter where Rafter lived, his character had been a source of great pride to many Australians.
Lara,
Pat to be parents in July
By LETITIA ROWLANDS
23jan02
PAT Rafter and his girlfriend Lara Feltham are expecting a child.
The Daily Telegraph has confirmed the couple, who met in 1997, will become
parents in July.
Rafter and Feltham are currently travelling in Australia with friends from
overseas and are said to be delighted about the impending arrival of their first
child.
The news comes as a growing number of sports stars are taking time away from the
spotlight to be with their young families.
Australian cricket vice-captain Adam Gilchrist recently took time out from his
sport to spend time with his wife Melinda and son Harrison who was born last
month.
Feltham, who was introduced to Rafter at a Sydney charity event five years ago,
has often spoken about her desire for a family.
In a recent interview the 32-year-old model spoke about the importance of family
and her desire to eventually settle in Australia to raise children with Rafter.
"He'll be a great dad," she said.
"I'm sure he does want kids, one day, when the time's all right."
Feltham fell pregnant in the lead-up to last year's Tennis Masters Cup in
Sydney.
The tennis champ's brother Steven, who is also his manager, would not comment on
the pregnancy yesterday.
"It is something you would have to ask Pat about," he said.
Rafter's sister Louise said she had not spoken to her brother about the
pregnancy and was surprised by the reports.
"It's the first I've heard of it so I can't really say much about it,"
she said yesterday.
"All I know is Pat is having a relaxing holiday at the moment."
The dual US Open champion, who is having an indefinite break from the sport that
made him a household name, announced last January that 2001 would probably be
his last year in tennis.
Rafter, who is one of nine children, is travelling around the country with
neighbours from Bermuda and their friends' two young daughters visiting major
cities.
His brother Peter has said the tennis champ would spend his break from tennis
doing some "soul-searching".
The new baby will not be the first grandchild for Jocelyn and Jim Rafter.
Their daughter Maree gave birth to her first daughter in the middle of last
year.
Only weeks after meeting, Feltham and Rafter spent the weekend together in Noosa
where they booked into an ocean-view apartment.
Feltham has spent much of their relationship based in England, juggling the
demands of modelling career while also being courtside supporting Rafter as much
as possible.
Rafter to watch Open on TV
From our wire services
11jan02
THE only ball Pat Rafter is likely to hit next week is a golf ball.
The recently-retired dual US Open champion isn't even planning to watch his mate and the world's No.1 ranked player Lleyton Hewitt try to win the Australian Open.
Instead the laconic Queenslander and girlfriend Lara Feltham will be playing host to some overseas friends, although Rafter said he might sneak a peak at the Open on television.
Arriving in Australia today after a holiday in Fiji, Rafter was asked if being only a spectator might tempt him into considering a comeback.
"I just don't know," he said with a smile, leaving the door ajar.
But he admitted to playing more golf than tennis of late.
"I really enjoy it," he said.
Rafter, who has a single-figure handicap, partnered professionals Craig Parry and Peter Senior - and matched them in the length of their drives - during the annual Jack Newton 36-hole charity tournament at Twin Waters on Queensland's Sunshine Coast last month.
Brother Steve Rafter, Pat's manager, said he thought Pat would take an interest in what happened at the first Grand Slam of the year, although he'd probably only be watching if there was a television in the golf course clubhouse.
This time last year Rafter announced his intended retirement due to chronic shoulder and elbow injuries and farewelled the adoring Melbourne tennis public with a semifinal showdown with long-time rival Andre Agassi, who went on to win the tournament.
Rafter enjoyed a hugely successful final year, although the stand-out memories were also the most painful - the epic five-set loss in the Wimbledon final to Goran Ivanisevic and the devastating Davis Cup final defeat against France last month.
Now, according to brother Steve, he is enjoying his long break from tennis.
"He's really enjoying the break and is really relaxed," he said.
"Pat and Lara have been doing some travelling overseas and they're going to be doing some sightseeing domestically until the end of February.
"He's got some friends over from Bermuda who he's showing around."
The 29-year-old hadn't given his family any clues either about a possible return to tennis.
"He's still doing fitness work so he hasn't given it up completely but we're just like a normal family, we haven't really asked him about his plans," Steve said.
When asked if there was any chance the Rafter family would be celebrating a wedding, given Pat had always said he would consider marriage or a family when he was finished with tennis, Steve laughed: "We haven't even asked him if he's going back to tennis, so we're hardly going to quiz him on his love life."