Finishing strong 

Rafter shakes off doldrums to move past Dosedel

Patrick Rafter returns a forehand shot to Slava Dosedel. AP 
LONDON (Reuters) -- A sluggish Pat Rafter was made to work hard for his place in the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday, before beating Czech Slava Dosedel 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. 
It took the third seed, runner-up to champion Pete Sampras last year, two and a half hours to dispatch Dosedel, ranked 102nd in the world, in a nervous first match on Court 1. 
Rafter, bumped up the seedings from a ranking of 10 because of his grasscourt pedigree, lost his serve in the first game of the tie. 
"Slava is a very unpredictable player. I wasn't quite sure how he was going to play. Sort of tightened me up a little bit because I didn't know what to do," Rafter said. 
Earlier in his career Rafter said he could enjoy himself in London. "Now it's not like that anymore. It's strictly business. I feel pressure now, whereas before I didn't. It's good to feel that because it means you're a contender." 
Rafter confessed last year that he had lost his nerve at 4-1 and a set up in last year's final, allowing Sampras to win a record 13th Grand Slam. But he aims to face the American again in the 2001 final as the pair are on opposite sides of the draw. 
"I'd love to have another crack. Love to be back there," said Rafter, who after a string of injuries says this could be his last year on the tour.

On Thursday, Rafter -- a double U.S. Open champion -- clawed his way back into the first set, breaking 30-year-old Dosedel in the sixth and 12th games.
But he still looked ill at ease against the Czech, who produced penetrating shots from the baseline. 
Uncharacteristic errors and a lack of touch which sent lobs out and pushed drop shots too far contributed to the loss of the second set. 
Dosedel forced the Australian back from his comfort zone at the net and broke him in the ninth game. 
The normally mild-mannered Rafter yelled at himself in the third set and immediately loosened up. 
His serve swung into gear and he produced a series of passing shots, eventually taking the set with a fine backhand return in the 10th game. 
The fourth set sped by in a whirlwind of serve and volley as Dosedel's head dropped. 
"I freed up in the last few games," Rafter said. "It was good to finish on a high note." 

Attracted by the clash of opposites

By RICHARD HINDS
LONDON
Thursday 28 June 2001

Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt are, so we're told, the best of mates. They share an obsession with Davis Cup, an indifference to their on-court appearance and, possibly, a semi-final appointment at Wimbledon.
And yet, in almost every other regard, the two Australians are not merely contrasting personalities, they could be different species.
Rafter strikes you as a pretty good guy to have a beer with. Hewitt strikes you as a pretty good guy to invade Poland with.
Rafter can dissolve into a puddle of perspiration standing under a 50-watt bulb. Hewitt makes the Energiser bunny look like a quitter.
Rafter belongs at Wimbledon like Vegemite belongs on toast. Hewitt is, quite literally, allergic to grass.
If Rafter is pumping his fist, he has probably just won the US Open. If Hewitt is pumping his fist, he has probably just tied his shoelace.
It is these stark differences in style and personality, as much as shared patriotic preference, that make the still distant prospect of a semi-final showdown so appetising. Perhaps not for Rafter and Hewitt, who are no more eager to bump heads than the Williams sisters. But, for everyone else, it could represent generational change from Rafter's gracious reign as Australia's best player to a more tempestuous Hewitt era.
The possibility drew one match closer after both had impressive straight-sets first-round victories, Hewitt over Magnus Gustafsson and Rafter over Daniel Vacek.
When we say Rafter looked good, we are, of course, talking exclusively about his game. An unsightly new red and black headband provided further evidence for those who suspect Rafter has made a bet that, somehow, he can make himself unattractive - "Awww, geez girls, you couldn't possibly be turned on by a guy wearing this goofy headband, could you?"
Rafter says the headband was given to him by Australian Paul Kilderry and acknowledges its unsightliness. "He gave it to me in Halle and I decided that I'd wear it. Walked on the court, I looked like an idiot. Then I thought, 'Oh, stuff it, I'll do it'. Everyone knows I looked like an idiot. Don't care any more."
Alas, it seems this latest Rafter repellent will prove no more potent than his previous attempts to ugly-up. Not even a tuft of grey hair that looks like the work of a passing pigeon could discourage the customary squeals as Wimbledon's heart throb trampled Vacek.
Not to be outdone - by anyone, ever, if he can do anything about it - Hewitt has also shaved his head. However, with his cap still backwards and clothes a size or two too big, he remains Bart Simpson-esque.
Perversely, given he has just won successive grasscourt tournaments, it is Hewitt's credentials on the surface rather than his dress sense that is the cause of most concern. Victory over Gustafsson was hardly trial-by-Becker. Indeed, it inspired only one bounced racquet and a single shout of "C'mon!" from the human Vesuvius.
Of course, that sort of assessment is just typical of the Australian media, which are out to get Hewitt. Or so he seems to think. However, he can have no quibbles about his treatment by the local press, which has portrayed him as a boy genius who is misunderstood and misrepresented by Australian reporters.
The man most likely to poop on the Rafter-Hewitt party is second seed Andre Agassi, potential quarter-final opponent of Hewitt. Rafter has clearly been doing some early scouting. "Hair looked great, bit of growth coming back," said Rafter, when asked how he thought Agassi looked.
Agassi was more serious about Rafter. "He is not only a great athlete and a great tennis player, he is one of the greatest competitors the game has ever seen."
Not to mention one of the worst dressers. But then, when you have a draw stacked with Agassi, Rafter and Hewitt, the tennis is likely to look good enough.

Rafter, Hewitt shrug off hype
By LEO SCHLINK in Adelaide
28jun01

PAT Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt, Australia's highly touted Wimbledon contenders, yesterday moved to douse rising expectation by sounding warnings their title quests could crumble at any moment ¨C as early as tonight's second round.



Third seed Rafter predicted Czech Slava Dosedel could easily crush his push for a third major, while rampaging fifth seed Hewitt forecast a searching challenge from American Taylor Dent. 

"Slava sees the ball as well as anyone," Rafter said after dispatching Dosedel's compatriot Daniel Vacek 6-2 7-6 (9-7) 6-3. 

"He's pretty talented and I consider him to be a very dangerous sort of player. 

"Depends on what mood he's in. I've seen him put in some pretty ordinary efforts and some really great efforts. 

"He's a very dangerous guy, a guy that I've got to be very committed, very concentrated against, play some really tough tennis. 

"If I'm a bit loose, if I'm not really there, he'll have a good day, I'm pretty sure of that." 

Rafter lost to Dosedel in Adelaide two years ago, when the stakes were considerably lower. 

Hewitt was similarly defensive over clashing with Dent, the 20-year-old American son of former Australian Davis Cup star Phil Dent, after mauling Swede Magnus Gustafsson 6-1 6-2 6-4. 

"The only time I played him was in the US Open juniors in second round, beat him in straight sets, but a tight match there," Hewitt said. 

"He's a lot better player since then, that's for sure. But so am I. He's a big hitter. He's come through qualies. He's obviously seeing the ball well at the moment. His confidence is high. He's got nothing to lose. 

"I'm going to go out there and I'm not going to take the match lightly. You know, he's dangerous. I've got to step up there and be ready to go right from the first point." 

Both Rafter and Hewitt were elated at surviving what is traditionally the most daunting hurdle at the All-England Club: hungry first-round opponents, burning with ambition, on often slippery grass. 

For both men, and for different reasons, spectres from the past hovered over their return to Wimbledon. 

Wearing a navy and red headband given to him by close friend and fellow player Paul Kilderry, Rafter described his form as solid. 

It was better than that as he again moved to close the book on last year's disappointment when he led Pete Sampras by a set and 4-1 in the second-set tiebreak. 

"I had my opportunity and I slipped," he said. "Doesn't keep me up at nights. Still won't." 

Using anti-inflammatories to control tendinitis in his right elbow, Rafter served and volleyed with typical brilliance to match Hewitt's extraordinary form. 

Hewitt was similarly fatalistic over last year's first-round loss to Jan-Michael Gambill after posting his 11th successive tournament grasscourt victory. 

Asked how it felt to be on such a roll, Hewitt revealed his tournament attitude. 

"It's not really a run," he said. "This is a grand slam. It's not an ATP event. 

"It all started for me yesterday. I'm on a streak of one win. 

"I was very happy with the way I played, especially my forehand and my return of serve. I've just got a bit of work to do on my serve. 

"I give myself an outside chance. I believe I can play on grass. But there's a lot of other guys who have been to the latter stages of Wimbledon and know it a lot better than I."


Rafter bounces a Czech 

By LINDA PEARCE
WIMBLEDON
Thursday 28 June 2001


Pat Rafter fancies waking up for a morning swim, perhaps indulging in a spot of yoga, then maybe a game of golf.

"Sort of pretty excited to have a bit of a life, and see whether I like it or not," is Rafter's rather vague plan for life after tennis, due to start indefinitely in January.

Until then, Rafter has what could be his last chance to win the major events still to elude him, and nowhere has he been closer, and failed, than Wimbledon.

The difference between the beaten finalist of 2000 and the hopeful champion of 2001 is all in the expectation, and the difference between what he has done, and might still do.

"I think I know now that I have a good chance of winning," he said after a first-round defeat of Daniel Vacek on centre court, where he lost last year to Pete Sampras in a memorable championship decider.

"Last year gave me that little bit of extra confidence going into the tournament knowing that, `Hey, I probably can do it now'."

There was nothing in his 6-2, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 defeat of Vacek to suggest otherwise, although the Czech did make a match of things during a close second set.

The encouragement for Rafter related to raising his level when facing a set point in the tiebreak, and finishing off clinically against a player whose long-term back injury makes his 934th ranking misleading.

There were no demons waiting to torment the third seed as he returned to centre court for the first time after last year's self-described "choke", just as there were few nerves, and no discomfort from the elbow inflammation he says has been cured by "popping a few pills". Nor, later, was there any desire to reminisce about what might have been. That is past.

"Listen, it was a great fortnight," he insisted. "You know, I had my opportunity, and I slipped. Doesn't keep me up at nights. Still won't. 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, you know, devastated. That's the way it is. I wasn't meant to win."

Rafter now faces a second Czech, Slava Dosodel, who won the pair's only previous match, in straight sets in Adelaide in 1999.

"He's pretty talented. He sees the ball as well as anyone," said Rafter. "I consider him a very dangerous sort of player. Depends on what mood he's in. I've seen him put in some pretty ordinary efforts, and some really great efforts."

Lleyton Hewitt had one of those against Magnus Gustafsson, dropping only seven games on the way to a second-round appointment with Taylor Dent, the powerful American-born son of former Australian Davis Cup player Phil Dent.

It will be their first senior contest; Hewitt having prevailed in the US junior event in 1998.

"He's a big hitter," said Hewitt. "He's come through qualies. He's obviously seeing the ball well at the moment. His confidence is high. He's got nothing to lose."

Despite winning his 11th consecutive match on grass, Hewitt reset the counter at zero when this grand slam began. His run, Hewitt insists, is one. The fifth seed is also adamant he deserves to sit on the rung below Sampras, Rafter, Andre Agassi and Tim Henman on the list of title favorites, considering he has never reached Wimbledon's last 16.

So to the women, and as well as the unusually warm London weather, we have also seen that other occasional phenomenon: an Australian in the second round.

This year, with Jelena Dokic flying Yugoslavia's flag, the honor goes to Alicia Molik, who edged past Catalina Castano 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), and straight into Lindsay Davenport's path.

Yet Molik is nothing if not relaxed, and in that respect is the antithesis of the fiercely driven Dokic, whom she beat at Birmingham two weeks ago.

Typically, Molik regards Davenport as an obstacle to approach at full pace. "I'm looking forward to it," said the 20-year-old specialist server.

"I haven't ever played a match that big at Wimbledon before, and no time better than now really, when I've been hitting the ball well and (with) a little bit of confidence as well, and those two combined can really produce anything.

"Lindsay's a big hitter and I think I'm going to have to produce a lot. I'm going to have to stay aggressive. I don't think I can go out there holding back at all. I've really got to go for it.

"I haven't had a big match like Lindsay yet, apart from Jelena in Birmingham, and I managed to get through that one."

Joining Rachel McQuillan and Evie Dominikovic at the prizemoney window was Nicole Pratt, who earned her loser's cheque by pushing sixth seed Amelie Mauresmo to 6-4 in a close third set.

In the men's first round, Australia tallied up a 4-3 result, although perhaps the least unexpected was Wayne Arthurs' straight-sets flop against Max Mirnyi.

For all the talk of dark horses and big threats, Arthurs barely stretched Mirnyi, one of the few players on the tour with a serve to match his own. "No excuses, no reason for it, just served horrendously and didn't make any chances for myself on his serve," said Arthurs.

A year ago, Arthurs' first-round loss affected him so badly he spoke of quitting the game. But, through some solid recent results, last year's pressure evolved into this year's expectation.

"I was feeling really good this year, coming into here, and last year I hadn't won many matches and maybe felt less confident," Arthurs said.

"It's obviously very disappointing to lose. I thought I had a pretty good chance of doing well, but I'm not going to slit my wrists over it. It's only a tennis match.

"I haven't stuffed anyone's life up, or anything like that, so the positive way to look at it is that it's going to give me a couple of weeks off, before I go over to the States for the hardcourt season."