"Nice Bloke, Rafter" by Kate Battersby
London Evening Standard, Wednesday 27th June 2001.

You can tell when an Australian bloke has a particular high opinion of a fellow countryman. He refers to him in terms of abuse. So you can be sure Pat Rafter likes Lleyton Hewitt every bit as much as the 20 year old transparently worships last year's vanquished finalist, because Rafter calls Hewitt " the little bastard." Or " the little bugger", if he's in an especially good mood.

Yesterday, after all the definitely-maybe discussion whether this will be 28 year old Rafter's final season on the tour, Hewitt left no doubt he believes this is his mate's ultimate wimbledon. The older man grinned broadly at this news. "The little bugger is making up my mind now for me, is he?" he replied cheerily.

Would that it were so simple. Rafter's body is doing the deciding on his behalf. Long troubled by a right shoulder which requires a dreary regiment of daily exercise before it can be cajoled into co-operation, the two time US Open champion arrived at this Wimbledon with his worst preparation for three years.

This is only the twelfth event this year for the number three seed. In January bizarre problems with sheer volume of sweat caused him worries at the Aus Open. Exchanging his leonine hair for a buzz cut helped, along with the recent acquisition of a head band ( which he thinks makes him "look like an idiot". ) Then he picked up a right elbow injury that kept him off the tour for six weeks. Last week he fell at the first hurdle in a tournament where he had never previously been beaten, on the grass courts at Rosmalen.

Hence he became the chief beneficiary of the All England Club's new seeding system. But he proved last year that the SW19 committee is right to give weight to grass court excellence. If form alone had been the only factor 12 months ago, he would not have been seeded at all.

Meantime, the prospect of the sport as a Rafter free zone is thoroughly dismal. Were tennis a popularity contest, the Australian would have monopolised the Grand Slam for years. This is not to do down others. Rafter is simply a bloke apart. You know how it is.

We who watch make arbitrary judgements about which players we like and dislike, on the basis of nothing at all. But no one dislikes Rafter. Other men want to be him. Women - all women - want to do something rather more imaginative with him than take him home to their mothers. And that about covers the entire span of opinion.

Part of his appeal is that he would snort with laughter at any of the above. After that he would do something more interesting, preferably with his mates - "bastards" all, no doubt.

The point is this - cherish that signature kick-serve while you may, for the signs are this will indeed be Rafter's last tilt at the Wimbledon Crown.

"It is a good chance it will be my last year," he confirmed after cruising through the first round 6-2 7-6 6-3, against Daniel Vacek.

"Nothing is definite yet. I would really like to take six months off from the game. I'm preety sure I'm going to retire at the end of the year but I've always kept that little window open. I've definitely been thinking about what it will be like when I retire. I'll be pretty excited to have a bit of a life and see if I like it or not."

But Rafter has unfinished business in the meantime. Last year was a set and 4-1 up against Pete Sampras in the final, and he "choked"- Rafter's own characteristically no-shit assessment. Other players might look on their failure with shame or convert it into rage to fuel the competitive fires. Not Rafter.

" Listen, that was a great fortnight. I had my opportunity and I slipped. Doesn't keep me up nights. Still won't. It was just tennis match. It would have been great to have won it. I was nervous, I choked. No one died. I don't feel devastated. I wasn't meant to win. But I konw I have a good chance of winning this time."

Hewitt, or "the little bugger" as we must remember to call him now, rates Rafter's chances way above his own.

"Pat's going to be very hard to beat." he said. " I put Sampras probably the favourite then Rafter in the next bunch with Agassi and Henman, then me below them. He's got a great opportunity this year. If I'm out of it I'd love to see him win it, considering it's going to be his last year."

Hewitt will surely have other years. Sampras has had so many. Agassi already has his Wimbledon Slam. Only Henman would create greater sentimental domestic esteem. But for universal delight, you would be hard pressed to find to find more smiles on more faces than those conjured up by a Rafter victory.

Yet for all his professed cool about last year, he cannot claim he would have no regets if he were to win Wimbledon.

"Let's ask that question again in a couple of weeks," he suggested. Perhaps then it will at last be a redundant query.

Rafter hopes for happy swansong
Patrick Rafter (Aus) beat Daniel Vacek (Cze) 6-2 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 
Oozing relaxed confidence on his return to Centre Court, third seed Pat Rafter made light of his disappointment in last year's final. 
Rafter displayed the full repertoire of his grass-court skills in overcoming Czech challenger Daniel Vacek in straight sets. 
Afterwards the Australian insisted he had fully recovered from his Wimbledon 2000 defeat to champion Pete Sampras. 
"Yes I was nervous, I choked and all of the above but it doesn't keep me awake at night. 
"That's the way it goes. No-one died, I was just not meant to win," said Rafter. 
And displaying the typically humble, laidback nature that has made him such a popular player, Rafter took every opportunity to talk himself down. He explained his decision to sport a brightly coloured headband had been as a result of a dare. 
"Paul Kilderry gave it to me as a joke. I could not bring myself to wear it then I thought stuff it." 
The hair is different too, gone are the long surfer-style locks, instead a crew cut curiously dotted with a patch of greying hair. 
That is the only outward sign that this could be Rafter's last Wimbledon appearance as he has made it clear he is likely to retire at the end of the year. 
But the 28-year-old says that means less, rather than more pressure. 
"Last year gave me more confidence and now I know I have a good chance of winning. 
"I have had a good start to the year at tournaments I am pretty sure I won't be going back to and I played great so I don't consider it an extra pressure." 
On Tuesday, Rafter certainly seemed at his free-flowing best. 
His service game was impeccable, the instinctive serve-and-volleyer winning every game on his serve. 
Indeed, he won an impressive 95% of points on his first attempt. 
Rafter broke Vacek's serve in the fifth game of the first set. 
The Czech challenger, who has not won a match since 1999 after missing over a year through injury, never looked like breaking back and Rafter took the opening set 6-2. 
Crucial tie-break 
The second set was much more keenly contested as Vacek, who has won three Grand Slam titles as Yevgeny Kafelnikov's doubles partner, began to find his touch. 
The set went with serve and the Czech took the first mini-break in the tie-break with his only winning return on the Rafter serve in the match, but the Australian bounced back to win 9-7.
Rafter maintained his momentum at the start of the third set, breaking the Vacek serve in the second game. 
The Czech battled back valiantly but had no answer to Rafter's serve. 
Fittingly, the Australian played a love service game to seal the victory and progress to the second round.

Aussie big guns fire

From our wire services
27jun01

LONDON: Australia's big guns, Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt, blasted their way to straight sets wins in the first round at Wimbledon overnight.

Third seed Rafter defeated Daniel Vacek 6-2 7-6 6-3 on Centre Court in just 106 minutes to set up a second round meeting with another lowly ranked Czech, Slava Dosedel.

And fifth seed Hewitt crushed Swedish veteran Magnus Gustafsson 6-1 6-2 6-4 - in 105 minutes - to move through to a second round match against 143rd-ranked Taylor Dent, the American son of former Australian player Phil.

But the third Aussie man expected to do well here, Wayne Arthurs, crashed out at the first hurdle for the second year in a row, the 48th-ranked Victorian faltering to a 7-5 6-2 6-4 loss to 51st-ranked Max Mirnyi.

In women's action, Adelaide's Alicia Molik beat Colombian Catarina Castano 6-4 7-6 but faces a daunting second round match against third seed Lindsay Davenport.

Queenslander Nicole Pratt lost to sixth seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo 7-6 4-6 6-4.

And former Australian Jelena Dokic scored a 7-5 6-1 win over Paraguay's Rosanna De Los Rios and will play Argentine Mariana Diaz Oliva in the second round.

Rafter, who lost the final to Pete Sampras here last year, had few worries with Vacek, other than having to fight out of one set point at 6-7 in the second set tiebreak.

"I know that I have a good chance of winning," said Rafter, who sported a new red-and-black headband.

Hewitt was always on top of Gustafsson, avoiding any repeat of last year's shock first round defeat to American Jan-Michael Gambill.

The South Australian, showing off his new crew cut to Wimbledon fans for the first time, extended his win-loss record on grass this season to 13-0 after coming to this tournament with back-to-back victories at Queen's and Rosmalen in Holland.

He is trying not to think of that sequence, but feels he is playing well enough to be "an outside chance"' of winning the tournament.

"It's not really a run," he said.

"This is a Grand Slam. This isn't a normal event. It all started for me yesterday. I forgot about the past. I'm on a streak of one now."

He agreed that he is hitting the ball well and said: "I give myself an outside chance."

Arthurs said he could never get his booming left-handed serve working against Mirnyi, who raced away with the court seven match once he secured the only break of the first set, which made it 6-5.

"My serve was horrendous today," said Arthurs. "I was very disappointed to lose today. I thought I had a pretty good chance of doing well."

Trimmed for speed, Hewitt puts Gustafsson and first-round hoodoo behind him

By Linda Pearce in London

· Day One: How the Aussies fared

Lleyton Hewitt can safely banish the spectre of last year's first-round Wimbledon defeat from his mind. Twelve months on, veteran Swede Magnus Gustafsson proved incapable of blocking the fifth seed's confident opening steps in the direction of a first Wimbledon title.

Only Hewitt and Thomas Johansson are unbeaten on grass this year, and Hewitt has now won 13 successive matches, starting with two Davis Cup rubbers against Ecuador in Perth and continuing with consecutive titles at Queen's Club and Den Bosch, the Netherlands. If this is not Hewitt's best surface, then you'd scarcely know it.

Gustafsson learnt soon enough. The first three games took 21 minutes, and Hewitt needed seven break points before he could convert one. But once that was done, it was all quite routine, as the Australian won the next eight games to race through the rest of the set 6-1 and then take the next 6-2 in similarly outstanding fashion.

It was only then that Hewitt's high standard dropped away slightly, although that could have been the result of such a busy recent program. Several experts have questioned the wisdom of playing both lead-up events, and it will be a mighty achievement if Hewitt can win 17 matches in four weeks.

He has already shed a little baggage along the way. The Hewitt hair that was once kept in a fastidious ponytail and then trimmed into a curly bob is now gone altogether. He has also kept his error count trimmed to a healthy minimum, and so high are Hewitt's standards that de spite a comfortable lead early in the third set, he berated himself for his mistakes before closing out the match 6-4.

Only once before has Hewitt reached the second round at Wimbledon, when he lost in round three to Boris Becker on debut in 1999. He next plays American Taylor Dent the big-serving son of former Australian Davis Cup player Phil Dent who pushed Andre Agassi in the first round here last year before retiring with a knee injury but this year thrashed Sergi Bruguera 6-0 6-1 6-4.

Earlier, another quasi-Australian, Jelena Dokic, a semi-finalist last year, had opened a little shakily, coming within two points of losing the first set to Paraguayan claycourter Rossana De Los Rios before advancing 7-5 6-1. Joining her in the second round was defending champion Venus Williams, the second seed defeating Shinobu Asagoe 6-2 6-3 on centre court.

Dokic was circumspect when asked about the strong Australian support from the crowd, claiming not to realise that there had been a strong ``oi, oi'' factor on court four.

``I think I still get a lot of support anywhere I go, especially here,'' she admitted. ``You know, I think I get a lot of support from the people in Australia still. I think they've supported me a lot throughout the years. Anywhere I go I still think I'll get a lot of support from them and from anybody else.''

A more substantial Australian, Jason Stoltenberg, having beaten Julien Boutter in four sets on Monday, next plays eighth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero. A semi-finalist in 1996, Stoltenberg has scarcely practised in months, and found it hard to leave his wife Andrea, son Matthew and new baby behind in Orlando, Florida.

``I'm slowing down and not 100 per cent sure of my future, but it'll certainly be my last Wimbledon, and I'll have a good think about where I am after this tournament and make a decision,'' he said.

Joining Stoltenberg in the second round was Todd Woodbridge, whose prospects appear bright against Dutchman Raemon Sluiter, even if it was the 201st-ranked Woodbridge who had to swallow his pride last week and enter the qualifying event.

The 1997 semi-finalist and six-time doubles champion needed five sets to defeat Scott Draper.

Yet, Stoltenberg and Woodbridge aside, it was not much of a start for Australia, with Draper joined in the first-round loser's queue by Evie Dominikovic and Rachel McQuillan. Andrew Ilie went down with more of a flourish, having led the in-form 11th seed Thomas Johansson by two sets to one before his well of winners dried up and his game shrivelled in the heat.

RAFTER AND HEWITT CRUISE WITH TOP WINS - VENUS RISES
LONDON, 26 June, 2001

Pat Rafter is hungry to win Wimbledon. Coming so close last year when he lost to Pete Sampras in the final has only whet his appetite even more to win the greatest championship in the world. Rafter began that challenge with a very solid performance beating Daniel Vacek for the second time in three weeks, 6-2, 7-6, 6-3.

The very popular Australian attracted more than a few laughs when he wore a red headband during the match. It just looked so out of place and it was something given to him by his mate Paul Kilderry while there were playing in Halle, Germany the other week. With mates like Kilderry one needs a fashion co-ordinator. But Rafter has taken the knock in his stride. he even admitted it made him "look like an idiot", but it is all fun.

His tennis was quite serious the way he played Vacek. He was all over the court and declared that it was a very enjoyable match and one that he is very happy with. He also said the arm injury is not troubling him.

Rafter said playing on the Centre Court this time was a lot more comfortable than in the final and he was not nervous. The more he is on it the more comfortable he is with it because it is very intimidating, as beautiful as it is.

He says he does not reflect to that Sunday afternoon almost twelve months ago when he could have had his name inscribed on the gold cup, instead he sees it as a "great fortnight".

"I had my opportunity and I slipped, it doesn't keep me up at nights," he said. "It's just a tennis match. It would have been great to have won it. I was nervous. I choked, all of the above. That's the way it goes. I went out there, gave myself the best opportunity. No one died over it. I don't feel devastated. That's the way it is. I wasn't meant to win it."

But that has led him to rightly believe that he can do it and he now has a good chance of winning. Last year gave him the extra bit of confidence.

"I've maybe put a little more pressure on myself. There's always dangerous guys out there willing to upset the big guys," he said. "We all know that anyone can lose to anyone on any given day especially in this game. I am aware of that. I am hoping that statement won't come true for me."

Earlier in the day Lleyton Hewitt showed great form as he destroyed Magnus Gustafsson 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. He did not expect it to be so easy. The fifth seed says the ten match win streak he was on coming into Wimbledon means nothing to him now, it has been put to one side because Wimbledon is so different. As he put it: "This isn't a normal ATP event. I am on a streak of one win now".

He has already done better than last year when he lost in the first round.

"I have been hitting the ball well and I tried to take that confidence in, but you never know on a grass court surface, he's got a pretty big first serve. Fortunately he missed a lot of first serves and gave me too many chances to get in the point," said Hewitt.

Many observers believe that Hewitt can go all the way. It is not something that is occupying his mind. He has not been past the third round and he does not consider himself among the first few favourites, he sees himself as an "outside chance".

"I believe I can play on grass, I am not afraid to step out there against anyone on grass," said Hewitt. "That's a good confidence and self belief to have in yourself when you step out there on a surface a couple of years ago I hadn't played too many tour matches on. But there's a lot of other guys who have been to the latter stages of Wimbledon who know it a lot better than I."

With record crowd numbers pouring into the venue, Venus Williams opened the defence of her crown by beating Shinobu Asagoe 6-2, 6-3 but she did it without her lucky charm - her Yorkshire terrier dog Bobby. But more importantly Venus Williams says that she feels no pressure being the defending champion.

"Having won last year was really a dream come true," she said. "Whether or not I win this year has nothing to do if I won last year, in my opinion, because I still want the title just as much. So I don't feel any pressure to defend, if anything, I would just like to win again.

"There's really no better feeling. The court is so perfect. It is the best grass court I have played on in my life, including the other courts at this facility. I love being there."

Unlike her sister Serena the day before, Venus had no problems concentrating but she appreciated that it can be easy to lose focus especially when one is winning easily. There were time sin the match when she was a bit wayward with her returns but Williams put it down to the fact that she "just started going for to much".

"I wanted every shot to be great and perfect and sometimes you have to play 50%, not 100%," said Williams. "I was able to crawl out of it. I did have some errors. All I can do is learn from it, just go back to the practice court."

Andre Agassi was expected to be given a bit of a rough ride by Peter Wessels who in the last two weeks has beaten Marat Safin and Rafter on grass but the 1992 champion, playing his 200th Grand Slam match, stepped up a gear after the first set and won 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.

"In the tiebreaker I think he missed every first serve and all of a sudden double faulted," said Agassi. "I think it was a crucial time for him to all of a sudden have to face serving me on a second serve.

"I served well and I was executing my shots. I felt very clean with my groundstrokes. I made the first serve when I really needed. So at the end, I felt pretty good about it.

"As far as the game goes it's about feeling good about the shots, your shot selection, how you execute those shots. I believe practicing can get you there if you're match ready. I feel match ready. This year I didn't feel the pressure of having to play more matches but I did feel the need to get over here and get on the grass. Today was a great start for me because it wasn't an easy one."

Lindsay Davenport and Yevgeny Kafelnikov were comfortable winners as were Kim Clijsters and Jelena Dokic, but last year's semifinalist and the 16th seed Vladimir Voltchkov was upset by Mikael Youzhny in four sets. Amelie Mauresmo went three sets before beating Nicole Pratt, Alicia Molik scored a good win but will play Davenport next and Wayne Arthurs was beaten by Max Mirnyi in straight sets.



A nation turns its eyes to Rafter, Hewitt
By ROBERT MILLWARD
AP Sports Writer
June 26, 2001


WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Pat Cash is the only Australian to have won Wimbledon in the past 29 years, and he's now a coach.

The two strongest candidates to prevent that dry spell from reaching 30 years are Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter.

Standing in their way could be Pete Sampras, who is going for his fifth straight Wimbledon title and eighth overall. But before any showdown with Sampras arrives, they would have to play each other.

The third-seeded Rafter and fifth-seeded Hewitt are in the same half while Sampras is out of range until the final.

Rafter lost to Sampras in last year's final after winning the opening set. After cruising past Daniel Vacek in straight sets in the first round, he appears to have the game to justify his seeding.

Hewitt comes to Wimbledon having won two straight grass-court tournaments. He won his 13th straight match on grass by beating Sweden's Magnus Gustafsson 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

If they keep winning, two Australians will be in the semifinals. The last time that happened was 1971 when John Newcombe beat Ken Rosewall.

After dominating Wimbledon with 13 titles in 16 years between 1956 and 1971, the Australians have had a lean time. Bjorn Borg's five titles and the John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg eras were followed by the Sampras run of seven titles in eight years.

Cash's triumph in 1987 is the lone Australian response. Now it's down to Rafter and Hewitt. Hewitt is not so sure he's the one to depose Sampras this time.

``I haven't been past the third round here so I'm not considering myself in the first few of the favorites, that's for sure,'' he said.

``I give myself an outside chance. I believe I can play on grass. I'm not afraid to step out there and play on grass now.''

But Hewitt sees no sign of Sampras and Andre Agassi -- another former champion -- stepping aside.

``As Agassi has proved at the start of the year, he's in the best form of his career,'' he said. ``He's capable of beating anyone on any surface. Sampras on hard courts and grass at the moment can beat anyone on those two surfaces.

``I don't know how many years they're going to keep playing for. I can't see Pete losing too many matches on grass for as long as he wants to play.''

Rafter, who downed Vacek 6-2, 7-6 (7), 6-3, believes he is better for having reached last year's final.

``I now know I have a good chance of winning,'' the two-time U.S. Open champ said. ``Last year gave me that little bit extra confidence going into the tournament knowing that 'hey, I probably can do it now.'''

Rafter, Hewitt through at Wimbledon
Wednesday, 27 June, 2001

LONDON, June 26 AAP - Australia's big guns Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt stepped out at Wimbledon today and fired as expected, blasting their way to straight sets wins in the first round.

Third seed Rafter overcame Daniel Vacek on centre court, scoring a 6-2 7-6 6-3 win in just 106 minutes to set up a second round meeting with another lowly ranked Czech, Slava Dosedel.

And fifth seed Hewitt crushed Swedish veteran Magnus Gustafsson 6-1 6-2 6-4 - in 105 minutes - to move through to a second round match against 143rd-ranked Taylor Dent, the American son of former Australian player Phil.

However, the third Aussie man expected to do well here, Wayne Arthurs, crashed out at the first hurdle for the second year in a row, the 48th-ranked Victorian faltering to a 7-5 6-2 6-4 loss to 51st-ranked Max Mirnyi.

In women's action, Adelaide's Alicia Molik beat Colombian Catarina Castano 6-4 7-6 but faces a daunting second round match against third seed Lindsay Davenport.

Queenslander Nicole Pratt lost to sixth seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo 7-6 4-6 6-4. And former Australian Jelena Dokic scored a 7-5 6-1 win over Paraguay's Rosanna De Los Rios and will play Argentinian Mariana Diaz Oliva in the second round.

Rafter, who lost the final to Pete Sampras here last year, had few worries with Vacek, other than having to fight out of one set point at 6-7 in the second set tiebreak. "I know that I have a good chance of winning," said Rafter, who sported a new red-and-black headband today.

Hewitt was always on top of Gustafsson today, avoiding any repeat of last year's shock first round defeat to American Jan-Michael Gambill.
The South Australian, showing off his new crew cut to Wimbledon fans for the first time, extended his win-loss record on grass this season to 13-0 after coming to this tournament with back-to-back wins at Queen's and Rosmalen in Holland. He is trying not to think of that sequence, but feels he is playing well enough to be "an outside chance" of winning the tournament.

"It's not really a run," he said. "This is a grand slam. This isn't a normal event. It all started for me yesterday. I forgot about the past. I'm on a streak of one now."
He agreed that he was hitting the ball well and said: "I give myself an outside chance".

Arthurs said he could never get his booming left-handed serve working today against Mirnyi, who raced away with the court seven match once he secured the only break of the first set, which made it 6-5. "My serve was horrendous today," said Arthurs."I was very disappointed to lose today. I thought I had a pretty good chance of doing well."