Pat Rafter

Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former

He became the first man in the Open Era to win

Rafter won his first career singles title in 1994 in Manchester. Prior to 1997, this was the only ATP singles title he had won.

Breakthrough and stardom (1997–1999)

Rafter's breakthrough came in 1997. At that year's French Open, he reached the semifinals, falling in four sets to two time former champion

Entering the U.S. Open as the defending champion, Rafter reached the final by defeating Hicham Arazi, Hernán Gumy, David Nainkin, Goran Ivanišević and Jonas Björkman before besting Sampras in a five-set semifinal.^[5] Rafter then defended his US Open title by defeating fellow Australian Mark Philippoussis in four sets, committing only five unforced errors throughout the match.^[4] Altogether, Rafter won six tournaments in 1998, finishing the year No. 4 in the world.

Rafter won the

Due to injury, Rafter was unable to play in the 1999 Davis Cup final won by Australia; however, he won important matches in the earlier rounds to help the team qualify.^[10]

Late career (2000–2003)

Rafter's ranking had fallen to No. 21 by the time he reached the Wimbledon final in July 2000. In the semifinals, he defeated Agassi 7–5, 4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3. The match was hailed as a classic, particularly because of their contrasting playing styles, with Agassi playing primarily from the baseline and Rafter attacking the net. Rafter faced Sampras in the final, who was gunning for a record-breaking seventh Wimbledon title overall (and seven in the past eight years). While Rafter made a strong start to the match and took the first set, after the match he would claim that he had "choked" part way through the second set tie-break, and was then not able to get back into his game. Sampras won in four sets.

Rafter played on the

In 2001, Rafter reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. Despite holding a two sets to one lead and having the support of the home crowd, Rafter lost the match to Agassi in five sets.[11] Later in the year, Rafter again reached the Wimbledon final. For the third straight year, he faced Agassi in the semifinals and won in yet another five-setter, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 8–6. Much like the previous year's semifinal, this match also received praise for the quality of play that the two men displayed.^[12][13] The final was originally scheduled to play on the second Sunday but was rescheduled to the third Monday because the other semifinal between Goran Ivanišević and Tim Henman was played on three separate days. In the final he played Ivanišević, who had reached the Wimbledon final three times before but had slid down the rankings to World No. 125 following injury problems. In a five-set struggle that lasted just over three hours, Ivanišević prevailed. He played his last match at the Davis Cup final on rubber, winning the singles but losing the doubles.

Rafter did not play any tour matches in 2002. He spent the year recovering from injuries. In January 2003, he announced his retirement from professional tennis, stating that he had lost all motivation to compete at the top level.^[14]

Comebacks and post-retirement activities

The 5,500-seat centre court of the Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane, Australia, was named Pat Rafter Arena in Rafter's honour.^[15] In 2002, he won the Australian of the Year award.^[16] This created some controversy, as he had spent much of his career residing in Bermuda for tax purposes.^[17]

Rafter did return at the beginning of the 2004 season to play doubles at two tournaments only; the 2004 Australian Open and the 2004 AAPT Championships (in Adelaide). However, he lost in round one of both events, playing alongside Joshua Eagle.

In 2005, Rafter won the International Club's prestigious

He was elected to the

In October 2010, Rafter was announced as Australia's Davis Cup captain.^[20] Rafter stood down as Australia's Davis Cup captain on 29 January 2015.^[21] He was succeeded by Wally Masur.

On 12 January 2014, Rafter—then aged 41—announced that he would be partnering current Australian number one Lleyton Hewitt in the doubles draw of the 2014 Australian Open. The comeback, however, was short-lived, as the pair went down in straight sets to eventual runner-ups Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen in the first round.^[22]

ATP Champions Tour

At the 2009 AEGON Masters Tennis, Rafter lost his opening round robin match against the 1987 Wimbledon Champion and fellow Aussie Pat Cash 2–6, 6–2, 10–6. In a much anticipated match and replay of the 2001 Wimbledon final, Rafter faced Goran Ivanišević. Rafter won the match when Ivanisevic retired while serving for the opening set, 3–5. Despite his performance, the retirement was enough to push Rafter into the final against Stefan Edberg. In what is described as a spell-binding serve-and-volley showdown,^[23] Rafter won the match 6–7, 6–4, 11–9. This represented the first time that Rafter was able to defeat Edberg.

Career statistics

Grand Slam performance timeline

Finals: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1997	US Open	Hard	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5
Win	1998	US Open (2)	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 6–0
Loss	2000	Wimbledon	Grass	Pete Sampras	7–6(12–10), 6–7(5–7), 4–6, 2–6
Loss	2001	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Goran Ivanišević	3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 7–9

See also

• List of male underwear models

References