skunky

Patrick Rafter

Patrick "Pat" 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 lives in Bermuda. He was known for his natural serve-and-volley style of play.

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 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 won the US Open, defeating Greg Rusedski in a four-set final and Andre Agassi and Michael Chang, among others, in earlier rounds. This was his first Grand Slam title.

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. Rafter then 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. He then defeated fellow Aussie player Mark Philippoussis in four sets. Altogether, Rafter won six tournaments in 1998.

Rafter reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in 1999, where 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. By the time he reached the Wimbledon final in July 2000, his ranking had fallen to No. 52.

Rafter won the Australian Open men's doubles title in 1999 (partnering Jonas Björkman). He and Björkman also won doubles titles at the ATP Masters Series events in Canada (1999) and Indian Wells (1998).

In 2000, Rafter reached the men's singles final at Wimbledon. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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 mates 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. The money was used to construct Queensland's first Starlight Express Room at the Mater Hospital. Rafter has created his own charity organisation that raises funds for children's causes each year.

He is a fan of both the Brisbane Broncos and Brisbane Lions and has occasionally played reserve grade Australian rules in the Sydney AFL for the North Shore Bombers.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1997	US Open	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5
1998	US Open	Mark Philippoussis	6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 6–0

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2000	Wimbledon	Pete Sampras	6–7, 7–6, 6–4, 6–2
2001	Wimbledon	Goran Ivanišević	6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	Career SR
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	1R	1R	3R	4R	2R	1R	3R	3R	A	SF	0 / 9
French Open	A	LQ	4R	1R	1R	SF	2R	3R	2R	1R	0 / 8
Wimbledon	LQ	3R	2R	1R	4R	4R	4R	SF	F	F	0 / 9
US Open	LQ	1R	3R	2R	1R	W	W	1R	1R	4R	2 / 9
SR	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	1 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	2 / 35
Year-End Championship
Tennis Masters Cup	A	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A	A	RR	0 / 2
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters	A	1R	3R	3R	A	1R	2R	2R	2R	QF	0 / 8
Miami Masters	A	LQ	SF	2R	A	1R	1R	3R	4R	SF	0 / 7
Monte Carlo Masters	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1
Rome Masters	A	A	1R	1R	A	2R	1R	F	1R	A	0 / 6
Hamburg Masters	A	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A	1R	A	0 / 2
Canada Masters	A	A	1R	2R	QF	2R	W	QF	QF	F	1 / 8
Cincinnati Masters	A	1R	1R	3R	2R	3R	W	F	A	F	1 / 8
Stockholm/Stuttgart Masters	A	A	2R	A	A	SF	2R	A	2R	A	0 / 4
Paris Masters	A	A	1R	A	A	2R	2R	A	3R	A	0 / 4
Masters Series SR	0 / 0	0 / 2	0 / 7	0 / 7	0 / 2	0 / 7	2 / 7	0 / 5	0 / 7	0 / 4	2 / 48
Year End Ranking	243	66	20	66	62	2	4	16	15	7	N/A

A = did not attend
LQ = lost in qualifying draw

ATP Masters Series singles finals

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1998	Toronto	Richard Krajicek	7–6, 6–4
1998	Cincinnati	Pete Sampras	1–6, 7–6, 6–4

Runner-ups (4)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1999	Rome	Gustavo Kuerten	6–4, 7–5, 7–6
1999	Cincinnati	Pete Sampras	7–6, 6–3
2001	Montreal	Andrei Pavel	7–6, 2–6, 6–3
2001	Cincinnati	Gustavo Kuerten	6–1, 6–3

Career finals (43)

Singles (25)

Wins (11)

Legend
Grand Slam (2)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (2)
ATP Tour (7)

Titles by Surface
Hard (7)
Grass (4)
Clay (0)
Carpet (0)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	20 June 1994	Manchester Open, Manchester, United Kingdom	Grass	Wayne Ferreira	7–6(5), 7–6(4)
2.	8 September 1997	US Open, New York City	Hard	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5
3.	13 April 1998	Gold Flake Open, Madras, India	Hard	Mikael Tillström	6–3, 6–4
4.	22 June 1998	Heineken Trophy, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Martin Damm	7–6(2), 6–2
5.	10 August 1998	du Maurier Open, Toronto, Canada	Hard	Richard Krajicek	7–6(3), 6–4
6.	17 August 1998	Great American Insurance ATP Championship, Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Pete Sampras	1–6, 7–6(2), 6–4
7.	31 August 1998	Hamlet Cup, Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Félix Mantilla	7–6(3), 6–2
8.	14 September 1998	US Open, New York City	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 6–0
9.	21 June 1999	Heineken Trophy, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Andrei Pavel	3–6, 7–6(7), 6–4
10.	26 June 2000	Heineken Trophy, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Nicolas Escudé	6–1, 6–3
11.	20 August 2001	RCA Championships, Indianapolis, U.S.	Hard	Gustavo Kuerten	4–2 retired

Runner-ups (14)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	18 April 1994	Salem Open, Hong Kong	Hard	Michael Chang	6–1, 6–3
2.	3 March 1997	Advanta Championships, Philadelphia, U.S.	Hard (i)	Pete Sampras	5–7, 7–6(4), 6–3
3.	14 April 1997	Salem Open, Hong Kong	Hard	Michael Chang	6–3, 6–3
4.	26 May 1997	Internationaler Raiffeisen Grand Prix, St. Poelten, Austria	Clay	Marcelo Filippini	7–6(2), 6–2
5.	18 August 1997	Pilot Pen International, New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	7–6(4), 6–4
6.	25 August 1997	Waldbaum's Hamlet Cup, Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Carlos Moyà	6–4, 7–6(1)
7.	6 October 1997	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet	Pete Sampras	6–2, 6–4, 7–5
8.	17 May 1999	Italian Open, Rome	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	6–4, 7–5, 7–6(6)
9.	16 August 1999	Great American Insurance ATP Championship, Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Pete Sampras	7–6(7), 6–3
10.	10 July 2000	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Pete Sampras	6–7(10), 7–6(5), 6–4, 6–2
11.	13 November 2000	Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, Lyon, France	Carpet	Arnaud Clément	7–6(2), 7–6(5)
12.	9 July 2001	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Goran Ivanišević	6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7
13.	6 August 2001	Tennis Masters Canada, Montréal	Hard	Andrei Pavel	7–6(3), 2–6, 6–3
14.	13 August 2001	Masters Series Cincinnati, U.S.	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	Vojtech Flegl 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

ATP Tour career earnings

Year	Majors	ATP wins	Total wins	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1997	1	0	1	2,923,519	3
1998	1	5	6	2,867,017	3
1999	0	1	1	1,254,574	12
2000	0	1	1	814,586	16
2001	0	1	1	1,670,592	7
Career	2	9	11	11,127,058	21

Memorable matches

1994 Wimbledon (vs. Sergi Bruguera)
1997 French Open (vs. Sergi Bruguera)
1997 US Open (vs. Andre Agassi)
1998 US Open (vs. Pete Sampras)
2000 Wimbledon (vs. Pete Sampras)
2000 Wimbledon (vs. Andre Agassi)
2001 Australian Open (vs. Andre Agassi)
2001 Wimbledon (vs. Andre Agassi)
2001 Wimbledon (vs. Goran Ivanišević)

Video

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.