|
Patrick Michael Rafter (born December 28, 1972) is a former World
No. 1 tennis player from Australia. He is best remembered as a two-time men's
singles champion at the US Open, and a two-time runner-up at Wimbledon. Rafter
was well known for his attacking serve and volley game and possessed one
of the finest volleys in the game.
Rafter was born in Queensland and is third-youngest in a
family of nine children. He began playing tennis at the age of five with
his father and three older brothers. In April 2004, Rafter married his longtime
girlfriend Lara Feltham (with whom he has a son, Joshua,) at a resort in
Fiji. Their daughter, India, was born in the summer of 2005.
Tennis career
Rafter turned professional in 1991, and won his first career
singles title in 1994 in Manchester. Prior to 1997, this was the only top-level
singles title he had won.
Rafter's major breakthrough came in 1997 at the US Open,
when he reached the final against Greg Rusedski and won in four sets to claim
his first Grand Slam title.
In 1998, he reached the US Open final again and defeated
fellow Aussie player Mark Philippoussis in four sets. He also won five other
tour singles titles that year.
In July 1999, Rafter reached the World No. 1 men's singles
ranking. However he held it for just one week, making him the shortest-reigning
World No. 1 in tour history.
Rafter won the Australian Open men's doubles title in 1999
(partnering Jonas Björkman).
In 2000, Rafter reached the men's singles final a Wimbledon
where he faced Pete Sampras who was gunning for a record-breaking seventh
title. Rafter made a strong start to the match and took the first set. But
after the match he claimed that he had "choked" part way through
the second set, and was then not able to get back into his game. Sampras
won in four sets.
In 2001, Rafter made the Wimbledon final again. He faced
Goran Ivanisevic, who had reached the Wimbledon final three times before
but had slid down the world rankings to No. 125 following injury problems.
After a titanic five-set struggle, lasting just over three hours, Ivanisevic
prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7.
Rafter was on the Australian Davis Cup teams which lost in
the final in 2000 (to Spain) and 2001 (to France). He was ironically unable
to play in the 1999 Davis Cup final – where Australia beat France to
win the cup – because of injury (though he won important matches in
the earlier rounds to help the team qualify).
Rafter was on the Australian teams which won the World Team
Cup in 1999 and 2001.
Rafter retired from the professional tour at the end of 2002.
During his career he won 11 singles titles and 10 doubles titles.
Rafter returns to the courts annually to play World Team
Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms.
|
