Patrick Rafter

Patrick Michael Rafter

Pat Rafter at a Davis Cup match in 2001
Country	Australia
Residence	Pembroke, Bermuda
Date of birth	28 December 1972 (1972-12-28) (age 36)
Place of birth	Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	80 kg (180 lb; 13 st)
Turned pro	1991
Retired	2001
Plays	Right-handed; one-handed backhand
Career prize money	US$11,127,058
Int. Tennis HOF	2006 (member page)
Singles
Career record	358–191
Career titles	11
Highest ranking	No. 1 (26 July 1999)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	SF (2001)
French Open	SF (1997)
Wimbledon	F (2000, 2001)
US Open	W (1997, 1998)
Doubles
Career record	214–110
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	6 (1 February 1999)
Last updated on: 25 March 2007.

Patrick "Pat""Skunky" Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is a retired Australian former World No. 1 tennis player. He twice won the men's singles title at the US Open and was twice the runner-up at Wimbledon. Rafter was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006. He was known for his natural serve-and-volley style of play.

Tennis career

1990s

Rafter turned professional in 1991 and won his first career singles title in 1994 in Manchester. Prior to 1997, this was the only ATP singles title he had won.

Rafter's breakthrough came in 1997, beginning at the French Open, where he reached the semifinals, falling in four sets to Sergi Bruguera. Later in the year, he surprised many by winning the US Open, defeating Greg Rusedski in a four-set final and Andre Agassi and Michael Chang, among others, in earlier rounds; he was the first non-American to win the title since Stefan Edberg in 1992. This was his first Grand Slam title, and catapulted him ahead of Chang to finish the year ranked #2 in the world, behind only Pete Sampras. The unexpectedness of his U.S. Open title led many, including Hall-of-famer and 4-time U.S. Open champion John McEnroe to criticize Rafter as a "one-slam wonder".^[1]

1998 was a particularly strong year for Rafter, winning two ATP Masters Series back-to-back singles titles in Toronto and Cincinnati. (Only Andre Agassi, in 1995, and Andy Roddick, in 2003, also have won both these tournaments in the same year.) Rafter defeated ninth ranked Richard Krajicek in the Toronto final and second ranked Pete Sampras in the Cincinnati final. When asked about the difference between himself and Rafter following the Cincinnati final, Sampras (at that time winner of 11 Grand Slam titles) stated "10 grand slams", and that a player has to come back and win a Grand Slam again in order to be considered great.^[2]

Following his title at Cincinnati, Rafter won a US Open warm-up tournament in Long Island, New York. Entering the US Open as the defending champion, he reached the final again, defeating Sampras in a five-set semifinal. Rafter pointedly took issue with Sampras' refusal to show him respect in defeat: "That is what really upsets me about him," Rafter said, "and the reason why I try to [tick] him off as much as I can."^[3]

Rafter then defended his U.S. Open title by defeating fellow Aussie player Mark Philippoussis in four sets, committing only five unforced errors throughout the match. When asked about Sampras' earlier comments about having to win another Grand Slam in order to be considered great, Rafter replied: "Maybe you can ask him that question, if he thinks that now. For me, I won another Slam, and it hasn't sunk in yet. It's very, very exciting for me, especially to repeat it".^[4] Altogether, Rafter won six tournaments in 1998, finishing the year #4 in the world.

Rafter reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in 1999, where he lost in straight sets to Agassi, the first of three consecutive years that the two met in the Wimbledon semifinals. July 1999 saw Rafter holding the world No. 1 men's singles ranking for one week, making him the shortest-reigning world No. 1 in ATP tour history. As the two-time defending US Open champion, Rafter lost in the first round of the tournament, retiring in the fifth set against Cédric Pioline after succumbing to shoulder tendinitis. Rafter's ranking then plummeted, and his shoulder injury wound up being serious enough to necessitate surgery.^[5] He won the Australian Open men's doubles title in 1999 (partnering Jonas Björkman), making him one of few players in the modern era to win both a singles and doubles Grand Slam title during their career (fellow countryman Lleyton Hewitt would later achieve this feat in 2001). He and Björkman also won doubles titles at the ATP Masters Series events in Canada (1999) and Indian Wells (1998).

2000s

His ranking had fallen to No. 52 by the time he reached the Wimbledon final in July 2000. In the semifinals, Rafter 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.^[6] 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, and was then not able to get back into his game. Sampras won in four sets.

In 2001, Rafter reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, but 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.^[7] 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.^{[8] [9]} In the final, he squared off against Goran 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.

Rafter was on the Australian Davis Cup Team that lost in the final in 2000 (to Spain) and 2001 (to France). Ironically, he was 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 that won the World Team Cup in 1999 and 2001.

He retired from the professional tour at the end of 2002 after winning a total of 11 singles titles and 10 doubles titles. He returns to the courts annually to play World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms.

On Australia Day 2008, Pat Rafter was inducted into the Australian Open Hall of Fame.

He also starred in the show Mark loves Sharon.

Personal and family life

Rafter was born in Mount Isa, 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 girlfriend Lara Feltham (with whom he had a son, Joshua) at a resort in Fiji. Their daughter, India, was born in May 2005.

Because of the white patch in his hair, his nickname amongst friends is "Skunky."

In 2002, he won the Australian of the Year award. This created some controversy as he had spent much of his career residing in Bermuda.

Rafter donated half of the prize money from his 1997 and 1998 US Open wins to the Starlight Children's Foundation; he attempted to do so anonymously in 1997 but was unsuccessful. He has created his own charity organisation that raises funds for children's causes each year.

He has occasionally played reserve grade Australian rules in the Sydney AFL for the North Shore Bombers.

Australian memorial

In honour of Patrick Rafter the 5,500 seat centre court of the Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane, Australia was named Pat Rafter Arena.^[10]

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles (4)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1997	US Open	Hard	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5
Winner	1998	US Open	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 6–0
Runner-up	2000	Wimbledon	Grass	Pete Sampras	6–7(10), 7–6(5), 6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	2001	Wimbledon	Grass	Goran Ivanišević	6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7

Doubles (1)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2000	Australian Open	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7(10), 6–4

Masters Series finals

Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1998	Canada (Toronto)	Hard	Richard Krajicek	7–6(3), 6–4
Winner	1998	Cincinnati	Hard	Pete Sampras	1–6, 7–6(2), 6–4
Runner-up	1999	Rome	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	6–4, 7–5, 7–6(6)
Runner-up	1999	Cincinnati	Hard	Pete Sampras	7–6(7), 6–3
Runner-up	2001	Canada (Montreal)	Hard	Andrei Pavel	7–6(3), 2–6, 6–3
Runner-up	2001	Cincinnati	Hard	Gustavo Kuerten	6–1, 6–3

Career finals (43)

Singles (25)

Wins (11)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	20 June 1994	Manchester, UK	Grass	Wayne Ferreira	7–6(5), 7–6(4)
2.	8 September 1997	US Open, New York City, USA	Hard	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5
3.	13 April 1998	Madras, India	Hard	Mikael Tillström	6–3, 6–4
4.	22 June 1998	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Martin Damm	7–6(2), 6–2
5.	10 August 1998	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Richard Krajicek	7–6(3), 6–4
6.	17 August 1998	Cincinnati, USA	Hard	Pete Sampras	1–6, 7–6(2), 6–4
7.	31 August 1998	Long Island, USA	Hard	Félix Mantilla	7–6(3), 6–2
8.	14 September 1998	US Open, New York City, USA	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 6–0
9.	21 June 1999	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Andrei Pavel	3–6, 7–6(7), 6–4
10.	26 June 2000	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Nicolas Escudé	6–1, 6–3
11.	20 August 2001	Indianapolis, USA	Hard	Gustavo Kuerten	4–2, retired

Runner-ups (14)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	18 April 1994	Hong Kong, UK	Hard	Michael Chang	6–1, 6–3
2.	3 March 1997	Philadelphia, USA	Hard (i)	Pete Sampras	5–7, 7–6(4), 6–3
3.	14 April 1997	Hong Kong, UK	Hard	Michael Chang	6–3, 6–3
4.	26 May 1997	St. Poelten, Austria	Clay	Marcelo Filippini	7–6(2), 6–2
5.	18 August 1997	New Haven, USA	Hard	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	7–6(4), 6–4
6.	25 August 1997	Long Island, USA	Hard	Carlos Moyà	6–4, 7–6(1)
7.	6 October 1997	Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany	Carpet	Pete Sampras	6–2, 6–4, 7–5
8.	17 May 1999	Rome, Italy	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	6–4, 7–5, 7–6(6)
9.	16 August 1999	Cincinnati, USA	Hard	Pete Sampras	7–6(7), 6–3
10.	10 July 2000	Wimbledon, London, UK	Grass	Pete Sampras	6–7(10), 7–6(5), 6–4, 6–2
11.	13 November 2000	Lyon, France	Carpet	Arnaud Clément	7–6(2), 7–6(5)
12.	9 July 2001	Wimbledon, London, UK	Grass	Goran Ivanišević	6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7
13.	6 August 2001	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Andrei Pavel	7–6(3), 2–6, 6–3
14.	13 August 2001	Cincinnati, USA	Hard	Gustavo Kuerten	6–1, 6–3

Doubles (18)

Wins (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	23 May 1994	Bologna Open, Bologna, Italy	Clay	John Fitzgerald	Vojtěch Flégl Andrew Florent	6–3, 6–3
2.	9 January 1995	Australian Hardcourt Championships, Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Jim Courier	Byron Black Grant Connell	7–6, 6–4
3.	13 May 1996	U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Pinehurst, U.S.	Clay	Pat Cash	Ken Flach David Wheaton	6–2, 6–3
4.	6 January 1997	Australian Hardcourt Championships, Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Bryan Shelton	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–4, 1–6, 6–3
5.	16 June 1997	The Stella Artois Grass Court Championships, London	Grass	Mark Philippoussis	Sandon Stolle Cyril Suk	6–2, 4–6, 7–5
6.	16 March 1998	Newsweek Champions Cup, Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Todd Martin Richey Reneberg	6–4, 7–6
7.	3 August 1998	Mercedes-Benz Cup, Los Angeles	Hard	Sandon Stolle	Jeff Tarango Daniel Vacek	6–4, 6–4
8.	1 February 1999	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7(10), 6–4
9.	14 June 1999	Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany	Grass	Jonas Björkman	Paul Haarhuis Jared Palmer	6–3, 7–5
10.	9 August 1999	du Maurier Open, Montreal, Canada	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Byron Black Wayne Ferreira	7–6, 6–4

Runner-ups (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	18 April 1994	Salem Open, Hong Kong	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Jim Grabb Brett Steven	walkover
2.	24 October 1994	Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, Lyon, France	Carpet	Martin Damm	Jakob Hlasek Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7, 7–6, 7–6
3.	16 October 1995	IPB Czech Indoor, Ostrava, Czech Republic	Carpet	Guy Forget	Jonas Björkman Javier Frana	6–7, 6–4, 7–6
4.	22 April 1996	Bermuda Open, Bermuda	Clay	Pat Cash	Jan Apell Brent Haygarth	3–6, 6–1, 6–3
5.	17 March 1997	Newsweek Champions Cup, Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	7–6, 4–6, 7–5
6.	21 April 1997	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Justin Gimelstob	Martin Damm Daniel Vacek	2–6, 6–2, 7–6
7.	11 August 1997	Great American Insurance ATP Championship, Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	7–6, 4–6, 6–4
8.	18 June 2001	Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany	Grass	Max Mirnyi	Daniel Nestor Sandon Stolle	6–4, 6–7(5), 6–1

Performance timeline

Singles

A = did not attend
LQ = lost in qualifying draw

Doubles

ATP Tour career earnings

Video

Tennis portal

• Wimbledon 2000 Semi-Final - Agassi vs. Rafter (2003) Starring: Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter; Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: 16 August 2005, Run Time: 213 minutes, ASIN: B000A343QY.
• Wimbledon 2001 Final: Rafter Vs Ivanisevic Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: 30 October 2007, Run Time: 195 minutes, ASIN: B000V02CT6.

References

External links

• Patrick Rafter at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Patrick Rafter at the International Tennis Federation
• Patrick Rafter at Davis Cup
• International Tennis Hall of Fame profile
• 2002 Australian of the Year
• Pat Rafter Cherish the Children (Charity)

v • d • e Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World No. 1 players Ilie Năstase (1973/1974 - 40 w) · John Newcombe (1974 - 8 w) · Jimmy Connors (1974/1983 - 268 w) · Björn Borg (1977/1981 - 109 w) · John McEnroe (1980/1985 - 170 w) · Ivan Lendl (1983/1990 - 270 w) · Mats Wilander (1988/1989 - 20 w) · Stefan Edberg (1990/1992 - 72 w) · Boris Becker (1991 - 12 w) · Jim Courier (1992/1993 - 58 w) · Pete Sampras (1993/2000 - 286 w) · Andre Agassi (1995/2003 - 101 w) · Thomas Muster (1996 - 6 w) · Marcelo Ríos (1998 - 6 w) · Carlos Moyà (1999 - 2 w) · Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1999 - 6 w)  · Patrick Rafter (1999 - 1 w) · Marat Safin (2000/2001 - 9 w) · Gustavo Kuerten (2000/2001 - 43 w) · Lleyton Hewitt (2001/2003 - 80 w) · Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003 - 8 w) · Andy Roddick (2003/2004 - 13 w) · Roger Federer (2004/2009 - 256 w) · Rafael Nadal (2008/2009 - 46 w) ATP rankings incepted on August 23, 1973 · (year first held/year last held - number of weeks (w)) · current No. 1 in bold, as of November 9, 2009