Patrick Rafter Totally Explained

Everything about Pat Rafter totally explained

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 U.S. 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'd 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 U.S. 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 U.S. Open warm-up tournament in Long Island, New York. Entering the U.S. 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 of 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 U.S. 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.(External Link

) 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 of the tournament, Rafter defeated Agassi 7–5, 4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3.(External Link

) 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'd claim that he'd "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.(External Link

) 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.(External Link

) In the final, he squared off against Goran Ivanišević, 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, Ivanišević prevailed 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7.
   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'd 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'd spent much of his career residing in the tax haven of Bermuda.
   Rafter donated half of the prize money from his 1997 and 1998 U.S. 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	U.S. Open	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5
1998	U.S. 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 Slams
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
U.S. Open	LQ	1R	3R	2R	1R	W	W	1R	1R	4R	2 / 9
Grand Slam 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 = didn't 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

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 the final	Score
1.	20 June, 1994	Manchester, England	Grass	Wayne Ferreira	7–6(5), 7–6(4)
2.	8 September, 1997	U.S. Open, New York City	Hard	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5
3.	13 April, 1998	Chennai, 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, U.S.	Hard	Pete Sampras	1–6, 7–6(2), 6–4
7.	31 August, 1998	Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Félix Mantilla	7–6(3), 6–2
8.	14 September, 1998	U.S. Open, New York City	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, U.S.	Hard	Gustavo Kuerten	4–2 ret.

Runner-ups (14)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	18 April, 1994	Hong Kong	Hard	Michael Chang	6–1, 6–3
2.	3 March, 1997	Philadelphia, U.S.	Hard (i)	Pete Sampras	5–7, 7–6(4), 6–3
3.	14 April, 1997	Hong Kong	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, U.S.	Hard	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	7–6(4), 6–4
6.	25 August, 1997	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	Rome, Italy	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	6–4, 7–5, 7–6(6)
9.	16 August, 1999	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	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	Montréal, Canada	Hard	Andrei Pavel	7–6(3), 2–6, 6–3
14.	13 August, 2001	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Gustavo Kuerten	6–1, 6–3

Doubles

Wins (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	May 23, 1994	Bologna, Italy	Clay	John Fitzgerald	Vojtech Flegl Andrew Florent	6–3, 6–3
2.	January 9, 1995	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Jim Courier	Byron Black Grant Connell	7–6, 6–4
3.	May 13, 1996	Pinehurst, U.S.	Clay	Pat Cash	Ken Flach David Wheaton	6–2, 6–3
4.	January 6, 1997	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Bryan Shelton	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–4, 1–6, 6–3
5.	June 16, 1997	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Mark Philippoussis	Sandon Stolle Cyril Suk	6–2, 4–6, 7–5
6.	March 16, 1998	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Todd Martin Richey Reneberg	6–4, 7–6
7.	August 3, 1998	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Sandon Stolle	Jeff Tarango Daniel Vacek	6–4, 6–4
8.	February 1, 1999	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7(10), 6–4
9.	June 14, 1999	Halle, Germany	Grass	Jonas Björkman	Paul Haarhuis Jared Palmer	6–3, 7–5
10.	August 9, 1999	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Byron Black Wayne Ferreira	7–6, 6–4

Runner-ups (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	April 18, 1994	Hong Kong	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Jim Grabb Brett Steven	W/O
2.	October 24, 1994	Lyon, France	Carpet	Martin Damm	Jakob Hlasek Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7, 7–6, 7–6
3.	October 16, 1995	Ostrava, Czech Republic	Carpet	Guy Forget	Jonas Björkman Javier Frana	6–7, 6–4, 7–6
4.	April 22, 1996	Bermuda	Clay	Pat Cash	Jan Apell Brent Haygarth	3–6, 6–1, 6–3
5.	March 17, 1997	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	7–6, 4–6, 7–5
6.	April 21, 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Justin Gimelstob	Martin Damm Daniel Vacek	2–6, 6–2, 7–6
7.	August 11, 1997	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	7–6, 4–6, 6–4
8.	June 18, 2001	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 U.S. Open (vs. Andre Agassi)
1998 U.S. 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: August 16, 2005, Run Time: 213 minutes, ASIN: B000A343QY.

Wimbledon 2001 Final: Rafter Vs Ivanisevic Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007, Run Time: 195 minutes, ASIN: B000V02CT6.Further Information

Get more info on 'Pat Rafter'.

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