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Rafter staying calm
Sportal

Pat Rafter has two US Opens to his name and has performed brilliantly for his country plenty of times, but the Queenslander is trying not to get too emotionally involved in the build up to the Davis Cup final.
Rafter admits that he has placed too much pressure on himself in the past, leading to disappointments against Juan Carlos Ferrero in last year’s final against Spain and Thomas Johansson in last month’s semi-final against Sweden.

"I consider those long, drawn-out matches half to do with being tense and nervous as well," Rafter said. "The last couple of matches I've got myself in trouble with (that) ... being too `up' for the match and losing a bit too much nervous energy.”

"I've just got to learn to control that. It's just a matter of enjoying my practice, enjoying my build-up to Davis Cup instead of putting so much pressure on myself to go out and win."

With the former world number one having made no secret of the fact he plans to take six months off after this year, an exile that might become permanent, he says he’s trying not to think the Davis Cup tie might be his last professional competition.

"I'm not trying to think it's my last match ever. I haven't said that yet. So I think I'll be fine with that aspect of it," he said. "I'm looking at doing my best in these tournaments coming up and trying to get the Davis Cup back in Australia.”

"That's going to be emotional enough as it is ... taking a break isn't really going to come into my mind."

Rafter skipped the European indoor season to rest his shoulder, and because of a reluctance to travel to Europe in the wake of terrorist attacks, but still qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup in Sydney next month.

"I realise the Masters is coming up and also Davis Cup and I was feeling if I do play too much tennis it could put me in jeopardy for those two tournaments," he said.

"That's always a bit of a concern, but I've found in the last couple of years I've come off a break a lot better than I used to. I've been running and going to the gym quite heavily, a lot more than I normally do, trying to get some more mileage in my legs."

Rafter avoiding emotional fanfare
By Darren Walton

Pat Rafter is trying desperately not to get caught up in emotional fanfare as he attempts to crown his tennis career with Davis Cup glory for Australia.

Rafter admits undue pressure he placed on himself contributed to past Davis Cup disappointments.

He blew a two-set lead against Thomas Johansson in Australia's semifinal win over Sweden last month and retired with cramps against Juan Carlos Ferrero in last year's final in Spain.

The two-time US Open champion also cramped and faded badly after leading eventual champion Andre Agassi in this year's Australian Open semifinal.

"I consider those long, drawn-out matches half to do with being tense and nervous as well," Rafter said.

"The last couple of matches I've got myself in trouble with (that) ... being too `up' for the match and losing a bit too much nervous energy.

"I've just got to learn to control that.

"It's just a matter of enjoying my practice, enjoying my build-up to Davis Cup instead of putting so much pressure on myself to go out and win."

Rafter said he was now doing everything possible to ensure the tension of the moment didn't curse him again.

He was convinced his low-key, hard-working preparation on Queensland's Sunshine Coast would serve him well for the season-ending Masters Cup in Sydney and possible career-ending Davis Cup final against France in Melbourne, both next month.

"I'm not trying to think it's my last match ever. I haven't said that yet. So I think I'll be fine with that aspect of it," he said.

"I'm looking at doing my best in these tournaments coming up and trying to get the Davis Cup back in Australia.

"That's going to be emotional enough as it is ... taking a break isn't really going to come into my mind."

His decision to skip the European indoor season to rest his shoulder - as a precaution - and train at Noosa Heads failed to stop the Queenslander qualifying for the Masters Cup.

He will head into the $US3.7 million ($A7.29 million) event having not played for seven weeks.

"I realise the Masters is coming up and also Davis Cup and I was feeling if I do play too much tennis it could put me in jeopardy for those two tournaments," he said.

"That's always a bit of a concern, but I've found in the last couple of years I've come off a break a lot better than I used to.

"I've been running and going to the gym quite heavily, a lot more than I normally do, trying to get some more mileage in my legs."

Rafter only started hitting balls again in Noosa on Monday upon the arrival of long-time mentor Tony Roche.

But his lighter schedule in 2001 has already paid dividends, culminating in his inclusion in the elite eight-man field for the Masters finale.

"Every tournament I've played I've been very consistent in and I've been able to maintain good results week in, week out," he said.

With only a handful of tournaments remaining before the Masters Cup starting November 12, it is now mathematically impossible for Rafter to slip from fourth to outside the top seven in the ATP Champions Race.

Rafter joins Lleyton Hewitt in the prestigious annual tournament, giving Australia two representatives for the first time since 1970 when Ken Rosewall and Rod Laver took part in Tokyo.

And the ATP says the two four-man round-robin groups for the Masters Cup would be known as the `Rosewall' and `Newcombe' groups after the Australian greats.

The cup Rafter runneth after

By LINDA PEARCE
Tuesday 23 October 2001

Noosa High School's most famous former student has been nearby in recent weeks, recovering from past exertions and preparing for his two Australian outings still ahead.

Quietly but steadily, on the running track and in the gym, Pat Rafter has been building the fitness base needed to fuel the climax of his year and perhaps career.

Rafter has withdrawn from the European indoor circuit he has approached with famous reluctance in the past, citing continuing shoulder soreness for his decision to stay in Queensland while Lleyton Hewitt endures the northern hemisphere cold and chases champions race points and match practice.

The Davis Cup is the trophy Rafter wants most, and he has chosen the local route to try to claim it. So far, there has been no obvious cost.

Despite not playing a tournament since the United States Open, which finished in early September, the fourth-placed Rafter has still managed to qualify among the top eight for next month's season-ending Masters Cup in Sydney, from where he will immediately fly south to start preparing on grass at Kooyong.

The Masters could be his last ATP tournament, while the Davis Cup final a fortnight later may be his farewell event, should his extended December break become permanent.

And so if there is no guarantee of success, then emotion should certainly be plentiful in the months ahead.

The build-up continued yesterday. In a conference call with the Australian media, arranged after his place in the Masters field was confirmed, Rafter discussed a range of subjects from the whingeing French to the blossoming Hewitt and the recovering Mark Philippoussis.

The Davis Cup surface: "The French, they love to whinge, don't they? We're looking forward to really upsetting the apple cart when they get here, as well. I think (grass) gives us another 10 per cent advantage. These guys are very capable though."

The shoulder: "You can never be definite about everything, but I've done a lot of work, a lot of gym work on it, and I'll continue to do that over the next three or four weeks, and then when the tournaments start, I'll really have to back off from that."

The reluctance to travel: "That in the past was a bit of a concern, and especially initially, but all sporting communities are overseas right now, whether it's rugby, or whether it's tennis, and it's really not that big an issue right now. I still think it's a worldwide issue, so I don't see why Australia's that much safer than anywhere else."

The year: "Every tournament that I've played, I've been very consistent in and I've been able to maintain good results week in, week out. My schedule has been minimal this year because of a heavy Davis Cup schedule, and also the shoulder has also been holding me back a little bit, so this year has been one of those years that I've been very happy with."

The Scud: "He's got to really concentrate on his knee right now. He's had a lot of problems, and the team's been very close this year, so it would be very hard to maybe find a spot (in the final) for Mark. But if he's really keen, and he really wants to come back and be part of (it) ... then I'm sure every one would like to have him around."

The fadeouts: "I consider those long, drawn- out matches have to do with being tense and nervous as well. That's one thing that the last couple of matches I've got myself in trouble with, probably just being too up for the match and using up a bit too much nervous energy beforehand, and I've got to learn to control that."

The Hewitt factor: "His record is impeccable, he's an incredibly good team man, he would have been excellent in a team environment like a footy player as well. He's definitely proved he's the No.1 player the last couple of months on the tour, that's for sure. And I really would love to see him take the (top) spot. His tenacity, his day-in, day-out dedication to the game, his speed and hit mental toughness is second to none right now."

The extended rest: "It's a precautionary thing for my mind ... I need to take break away from the game and see how much I miss it, and if I do miss it, I'd love to come back. But what I'm going to have to obviously keep in good shape and be hitting balls as well because if I come back, you want to be a contender again. You don't want to be putting in a half-arsed effort."

The post-tennis plan: "That's the problem, I don't really know what I want to do. That thing I'm sure will come to me when I sit on my bum long enough."

The time for lounging around will come, but Rafter's priority now is to ease his game back into shape on the practice court.

The dual US Open champion resumed yesterday with close friend and regular hitting partner Paul Kilderry under the supervision of coach Tony Roche, who will oversee proceedings for the next fortnight.

His main base may be Bermuda, but Rafter is in familiar and comfortable surroundings on the Sunshine Coast.

The family farm at Eumundi was his home during his early teenage years, and although part of the property is reportedly being subdivided, there is still plenty of room for the privacy he craves.

Rafter should make the most of it while it lasts.

Considering the interest in coming events, Noosa High's best-known old boy will be reminded soon enough that it is easier to run than it is to hide.

Rafter to contest Masters Cup

From our wire services

22oct01

News Interactive

PATRICK RAFTER has officially qualified for the rich Masters Cup tournament in Sydney next month.
Rafter hasn't played since Australia's Davis Cup semi-final win over Sweden last month, but confirmed his place in the elite eight-man field after retaining fourth spot in the latest ATP Champions Race standings.

Rafter joins Lleyton Hewitt in the $A7.29 million tournament, giving Australia two representatives in the annual season-ending tournament for the first time since 1970 when Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall took part in Tokyo.

Young Spaniard Juan-Carlos Ferrero has also secured his Masters Cup berth, joining Rafter, Hewitt, American Andre Agassi and Brazilian race leader Gustavo Kuerten as definite qualifiers.
Rafter opts for sunny Cup preparation
6:15 PM October 21

Pat Rafter has given the cold shoulder to the European indoor season and is working hard on his fitness for the Davis Cup final in the warmth of Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

After weeks of hints, Rafter officially withdrew from this week's Stockholm Open and next week's Masters Series event in Paris citing a shoulder injury.

The move came as no great surprise as he had previously admitted he dislikes the cold weather in Europe at this time and was also wary of travelling at a time of heightened international tension.

However, Australian Davis Cup coach Wally Masur said there was no suggestion Rafter was slackening off too early ahead of his extended break from tennis.

Masur said Rafter was in Noosa, working hard on his fitness ahead of next month's Masters Cup in Sydney and Davis Cup final against France in Melbourne.

Rafter's condition was called into question when he faded badly in a five set loss to Thomas Johansson in the Cup semi-final win over Sweden in Sydney last month.

"I think he's hurting himself, not so much on the tennis court, but I think he's putting in the hours in the gym and running," Masur said.

"He's using the time off away from tournament tennis for some off-season training that will hold him in good stead."

Davis Cup teammate Lleyton Hewitt was not surprised that Rafter had travelled to Europe.

"It's no secret that the Davis Cup final is what's most important for him," Hewitt said in Stuttgart.

"He doesn't want to come to Europe, get exhausted and then travel back for the Davis Cup final and the Masters (Cup)."

The Australian Davis Cup squad will assemble in Melbourne for a fortnight's practice on Kooyong's grass courts straight after Lleyton Hewitt and Rafter - presuming he qualifies as expected - complete their Masters Cup commitments.

Relieved Rafter qualifies for Masters
By LEO SCHLINK
23oct01

PAT Rafter will use the relaxed surroundings of Noosa to prepare for a farewell Davis Cup tilt in Melbourne next month after yesterday qualifying for the $7 million Masters Cup in Sydney.

Tired of international travel and nursing a chronic shoulder injury, Rafter was relieved to learn he now cannot be displaced from the top eight in the Champions' race and a place at Homebush from November 12-18, when he will contest his last singles tournament in Australia.

The Masters, which will feature two Australians - Lleyton Hewitt is the other - for the first time since Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall contested the 1970 edition in Tokyo, had long been Rafter's goal. But he was vulnerable to challenges from Pete Sampras and Tim Henman.

But with their defeats in Stuttgart last week, Rafter's position is now impregnable.

It has left the Queenslander two weeks of solid practice in Noosa with his coach Tony Roche, hitting partner Paul Kilderry, brother Peter and girlfriend Lara.

"Everything feels good, the shoulder feels strong," Rafter said yesterday.

"I'm really looking forward to getting some matches at the Tennis Masters Cup -- it's coming down to another beauty -- because that's what I need going into the Davis Cup. Having the match practice is crucial.

"My fitness program is focusing on getting fit and strong for the Masters and being ready for the Davis Cup final. Being up in Noosa is good for me, I went to school at Noosa High, so it's great being back here."

Rafter has withdrawn from Stockholm and Paris, citing a shoulder injury. But the decision was mostly precautionary and indicative of the dual US Open champion's desire to be part of a winning Davis Cup final against France at Melbourne Park next month.

Rafter will consult Melbourne physiotherapist Lynn Watson before resuming to gauge the state of his right shoulder, which required surgery two years ago to correct a torn rotator cuff. He expects no problems.

Rafter was yesterday dismissive of French concerns over the portable grasscourt Tennis Australia is installing for the November 30-December 2 final.

"The French love to whinge, don't they?" he said. "The grass gives us another 10 per cent, which is an advantage, but they play well on it. Nicolas Escude beat Lleyton at Wimbledon and I've lost to Fabrice Santoro on grass.

"Cedric Pioline is very good on grass, too. It takes away a bit from (Arnaud) Clement and (Sebastien) Grosjean."

Rafter was the fourth player to reach the safety of certain qualification for the Masters Cup after Gustavo Kuerten, Andre Agassi and Hewitt. Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero is now also a certain starter.

Rafter rejected claims he would be distracted by the emotion of bowing out over the next month, declaring yet again he was unsure of his future and whether he would return to the game.

But he admitted to being mentally jaded and in need of a break from the sport.

"I'm looking forward to the break. It's a precautionary thing for my mind. If I do miss tennis, I can come back,"

Injured Rafter misses two more tournaments
By Peter Starck

STOCKHOLM, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Australia's Patrick Rafter, the world number
four, has pulled out of two more tournaments because of his shoulder injury.

The first is the $800,000 Stockholm Open indoor hard-court championship which
begins on Monday. He will also miss Paris a week later."

"Patrick Rafter's old shoulder injury has forced him to pull out of the
tournaments in Stockholm and Paris the following week," Stockholm Open
tournament director Per Hjertqvist said.

Rafter was part of the Australian Davis Cup team which beat Sweden last month
to reach the final but he pulled out of this week's big tournament in
Stuttgart because of the shoulder.

Rafter's Davis Cup team mate Lleyton Hewitt was quoted by the Swedish tabloid
Expressen as saying: "It's no secret that the Davis Cup final is what's most
important for him.

"He doesn't want to come to Europe, get exhausted, and then travel back for
the Davis Cup final and the Masters."

Australia are at home to France in the final from November 30-December 2.

The Masters Cup tournament is the $3.7 million year-end ATP tour championship
to be played in Sydney next month.

In Stockholm, Hewitt, beaten semifinalist in Stutgart on Saturday, will play
Spaniard David Sanchez in the first round. The Australian eliminated the same
opponent 6-1 6-3 in Scottsdale, Arizona earlier this year in the only
ATP-tour encounter so far between the two.

SEEDED FOUR
In Hewitt's half of the 32-player main draw Argentina's Guillermo Canas, the
fourth-seed, will be keen to avenge Thursday's third-round defeat at the
hands of the Australian in Stuttgart.

Canas opens against German Nicolas Kiefer who he has beaten once and also
lost to once.

Second-seed Sebastien Grosjean of France, at 175 cm one of the shortest
players in men's professional tennis and seventh in the ATP Champions Race,
faces 20 cm taller Australian Mark Philippoussis, a player he has never
beaten but lost to twice, in the first round.

In other first round matches local hero Thomas Johansson, the third-seed who
won Stockholm Open last year, squares off against Austrian Markus Hipfl while
fellow Swede Thomas Enqvist, the winner here in 1999, 1996 and 1995, was
drawn against Czech Michal Tabara, the Indian Open winner in January.

Unseeded Chilean Marcelo Rios, the colourful but erratic former world number
one who has captured two ATP titles this year, takes on Michael Russell of
the U.S. in the first round.

Why terrorist horror means sport's little tragedies will never really matter again

Sport, one of the luxuries of the free world, has been altered by the attack on the US. Comment by Richard Hinds.

Sept 13, 2001. www.smh.com.au

Three days ago, Lleyton Hewitt walked the streets of New York with the US Open trophy tucked under his arm. Right then, having an Australian win a tennis match in the Big Apple seemed like the most important thing in the world.

Twenty-four hours later, with those same streets filled with acrid smoke and choking dust, it was difficult to think of that achievement - or anything else that takes place in sport - in quite the same way.

Yesterday, as he considered his team's appearance in this weekend's finals - a match that might usually be called "a matter of life and death" - one football coach wondered where he would find the inspiration to play his part. He was not alone.

It is not that sport should apologise for seeming so trivial in a time of universal shock and grief. The fact that we are - in normal times - able to take our past-times so seriously is a privilege of our rich and protected lives.

It is one of the so-called freedoms - part of the "way of life" - that whoever orchestrated the attacks on the US was attempting to blow apart.

For now, however, those of us who read our newspapers backwards and live life in seasons rather than years must accept that sport has been put firmly in context. That a player missing a big match through suspension or a coach being sacked is not anything like a real "tragedy".

So other than change the channel from World Sports to CNN, what is there to do? In the US the correct response has been to do nothing.

For only the fourth time in history all baseball games were postponed on the day of the attack. The starting time of a US PGA Tour event in St Louis featuring Tiger Woods has been pushed back to Friday - although, given many players are stranded elsewhere and others are mourning, it may not be played at all.

Quite possibly, this weekend's American football matches will also be postponed. If so, this will be done in deference to both the thousands killed and also the sport's unfortunate history.

In 1941, less than a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the National Football League went ahead with its championship game between the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears.

A subdued crowd of just over 13,000 gave the game a sombre atmosphere that the NFL has never lived down. Nor has it been allowed to forget that it played the weekend after President Kennedy was shot.

Not that American football authorities are alone in mis-handling tragedy. The Munich Olympics went on as scheduled for hours after Israeli athletes were taken hostage.

As a shameful postscript, the German Government later did a deal that saw some of the terrorists responsible for the murder of 11 hostages released.

Here, the National Rugby League said it would observe a minute's silence before its finals. The Australian Football League is likely to follow suit.

That is fitting. To proceed in a vacuum when so many have been touched would be grossly insensitive. The cancellation of Australian matches would not be of any practical or symbolic value.

But the ramifications of this attack for sport are likely to be felt long after the minute's silence is observed and the black armbands have been removed.

Already it has been suggested that this month's Ryder Cup match between the US and Europe be postponed. This is not only out of respect for the dead, but because of the fears of the participants that they could be a target for terrorists.

Of even greater concern is the Winter Olympics. Salt Lake City in March is more likely to resemble a war zone than the scene of an athletic event.

Regardless of what measures are taken, who will really feel safe? Since the Munich tragedy the organisers of successive Olympics have raised fences and doubled security checks. But how do they guard against a hijacked 767 falling from the sky with murderous intent?

In the glaring light of reality, this is the type of sobering question with which sport must wrestle. Pause a few days. Then hope for a speedy return to the "tragedies" of torn hamstrings and dropped catches.

Rafter may not play abroad again after US attacks

Reuters

13 September 2001

Australia's Patrick Rafter says he may never play overseas again in the wake of the terror attacks on the United States.

Rafter, twice U.S. Open champion, said on Thursday he would refuse to leave Australia if the crisis escalated.

"If anything goes on then I am going to stay at home," Rafter said.

Rafter has already announced he plans to take at least 12 months off at the end of the year, leading to speculation he will retire permanently.

He has already committed himself to Australia's Davis Cup campaign and the lucrative Masters Cup, to be staged in Sydney in November, but was also planning to compete in a series of tournaments in Europe before returning home.

But Rafter, who lives in Bermuda, said he would not be taking any risks if there were any lingering threat posed by the attacks on the United States.

"It would be nice to get a few matches before the Masters Cup but I am not going over there if anything is going on," Rafter, twice Wimbledon runner-up, said.

COPYRIGHT © 2001 Reuters Limited

Real world? Tennis stars have no idea

September 5, 2001

We have to assume that when Patrick Rafter talks about the "real world," he is not referring to seven strangers living in an apartment and having their lives videotaped by MTV, although he really can't tell us for sure.

None of them can. Not Rafter or Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi. Certainly not Michael Jordan, whose walk on the other side cannot be officially documented.

When athletes refer to life after sports, the rest of their lives, the real world as it were, it sounds a lot more like some nausea-inducing thrill ride at Great America than going to the dry cleaners. But that's precisely what scares them.

They know not of what they speak.

When Rafter was asked for an example of some of the things he wants to do away from tennis, he replied, "Just sort of live a life. See what life is. [Tennis players] live in an unreal world. I just want to touch down a little bit. Maybe I might not like it, I don't know. Wait and see."

You wanted to throw a comforting arm around him, tell him, "Pat, buddy, mate, it'll be OK. You're 28. You have lots and lots and lots of money. You may have to buy some real clothes, perhaps some grown-up shoes. And you probably won't have fresh towels provided to you on a minute-to-minute basis.

"But you won't have to go sell insurance. You won't have to pay your own bills, much less think about them. You have a girlfriend, who by law is a former model, so you won't be lonely. And if absolutely necessary, the grocery store is not that scary. Honest."

At least Rafter knows he wants to try venturing into the great beyond. He even seems eager. When Sampras, currently being fitted for orthopedic Nikes at 30, was asked the same question about what he might want to do, he looked like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights.

"I don't know," Pete said. "I need to be busy doing something. I don't have anything specific to--I don't know if I'll stay in tennis. I don't know what I'm going to do. I won't do anything for a while, just enjoy my time off, my retirement, whenever that comes."

When Sampras was asked last spring how long it might be before he retires, he said three years. At Wimbledon it was five. And at the U.S. Open it was "five, six, seven at least."

If he wins in New York, he may never leave. We'll find him 20 years from now in a qualifier against the Agassi-Graf kid, talking about how he can still hit the backhand.

This issue of the real world has arisen at the U.S. Open as relative oldsters Sampras and Agassi prepare for their quarterfinal Wednesday, and where the ghost of Jimmy Connors looms ever larger, the 10th anniversary of his semifinal run at 39 serving as false hope that others can do it too.

They can't, of course.

For starters the men's field is now deeper. And the draw parted mystically for Connors after Paul Haarhuis knocked off No. 1 seed Boris Becker in the third round.

Connors, a wild-card entry ranked 174th, beat Patrick McEnroe in a nearly 4 1/2-hour first-round match that ended at 1:35 a.m., no doubt hastening McEnroe's plans for the real world and sending Connors on a journey that was as inspirational as it was flukish.

Connors, who had barely been playing regular tour events at the time, was splendid in '91, no question. Perhaps the greatest big-point player of his time resurrected himself against a field that for all its talent could barely produce a single pulse from among Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Michael Stich and a 20-year-old Pete Sampras, the defending champ who infuriated Connors by saying his quarterfinal loss was a relief.

Connors did not merely feed off the fans 10 years ago, he was all but hooked up intravenously to them. In retirement, save for a lone long-distance interview from his California home with a New York paper last week, he has been practically reclusive, perpetually truculent and shunning most anything to do with tennis with the exception of his part absentee ownership of the Senior Tour.

The real world, it seems, has not been kind, as cushy as it might be.

Maybe Sampras and the others aren't so confused after all.