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SAYS....
Q. You reached No. 1,
but it was so short-lived. Have you really had a taste of it?
Q. Wasn't really a life-changing
event?
Q. You're not sick of
seeing him after the last two days?
Q. You've Jonas next
match.
I would loved to have
played Alex Corretja instead of "Guga", because Alex had joked to me the
would have let me win. I'll
Patrick Rafter defeated
Cedric Pioline 7-6(10) and 6-1. In the course of the match, he hit himself
with his own racket which
About his bump:
About playing Pete Sampras
in his next match:
Q.: Will you wear your
pink shorts tomorrow?
"Yes, I lost my hair clip; I consider it a part of my tennis equipment! I didn’t do it on purpose; I didn’t want to upset the rhythm." "I don't mind the shirt-off ones. If that's the sort of image they want. But I've pretty much cut my losses when it comes to doing underwear shots though" Q: You really killed Bjorkman today? A: Yeah, I just handled the conditions really well today. I think that has to do with growing up playing in the wind, because where we live it gets windy, I played there for a long time since when I was young. And for Jonas, probably they don't get that sort of conditions in Sweden quite as much. I've learned how to deal with them. [1998 US OPEN] Q: Why do you think you are playing so well? A: Oh, I don't know why. I mean, the conditions are great. I said I've got a good attitude, my attitude's changed. I'm just a lot - everything's taken off. I just feel very light within myself. Moving well. When I move well, I play well. I said I'm serving well, volleying well. Everything's - I don't know why. it just happens. [1998 US OPEN] Patrick Rafter, on whether being the defending champion is harder for him than last year: "I came into 1997 and I had a tough draw. I'd done really well the couple of weeks before and I was 14th in the world. Now this year, I came in with a good attitude again. I've learned to deal with the pressures. I just came to this tournament and whatever happens, happens." Rafter, on his strategy against his quarterfinal opponent, Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman: "Obviously, I'm going to serve and volley. We've played each other a lot. He knows my game inside out. I know his game pretty well. It's going to come down to (who) can exploit weaknesses better that day." Patrick Rafter on mending his relationship with fellow Australian and former doubles partner Mark Philippoussis, who is one win away from joining Rafter in the semifinals: "He's a lot happier. I can see him in the locker room, we're talking, we are confiding, we're getting back to being friends again. It's good. And he's showing his full potential here this week. And I think it is good for him. I think he's learning all the time. It's been tough, not for just him, but for me as well." ... Rafter on the chance to become the No. 1 player: "That really hasn't entered my mind. Over the summer, I've probably had the best res out of everyone. Whether that makes me the No. 1 player for three weeks in a year, that's not the way the system works. But Pete (Sampras) has shown over the years why he's No. 1. If I do happen to win this nament, that puts me in a very good position to become the No. 1 player in the world further on in the year." ... Rafter on his beer consumption: "I've been fantastic this whole summer. I've hardly had a beer. I think it's just for me a great way to just relax. You guys think I'm an alcoholic or something. It's just totally in moderation. Wow, I've got to have a glass of water tonight and chill out. I don't know what I'm going to have tonight. I'm going to have one beer. Am I allowed to do that? I hope I'm allowed to do that." ... Rafter on whether Sampras was bothered by a fitness problem in their semifinal: "I don't look at it as fitness. If he's chucking up in the corner 5-all in the fifth, you know, then that's something else. But that's different. He obviously pulled a muscle and that's just bad luck." Rafter on whether his victory over Sampras would be considered tainted because of the leg injury to Sampras: "I was a lot more offended by the last occasion, Cincinnati, when everyone thought that serve (on match point) was out. First of all, I had match point and I missed the first serve. I still had a second serve to go. It was like people thought because of this bad line call, he lost the match. That thing worried me. That got at me a little bit. But today, that's something else. That's different. He was genuinely injured." Rafter on the role of tradition in Australian tennis: "Generally, all the Australians, we pull together a lot, especially around big occasions like the Grand Slams and around the Davis Cup. We usually are always there for each other. We always put in 100 percent. That's not to say the Americans don't. They do, you know. They've got great examples as in Pete (Sampras) and as in Michael Chang and you've got (Jan-Michael) Gambill coming through, Todd Martin. I believe a lot in cycles. You might look ten years down in time and our tennis might be (expletive) but someone else might be fantastic. Just goes in cycles a little bit." Defending champion Patrick Rafter, looking forward at his next match against Ivanisevic: "I said a word to him in the locker room. We were just giving each other a little (expletive) in the locker room, that's about it. We always do. We're good mates. Just bring it on. He's ready. He got some funny things in the mail today. He got some handcuffs in the mail. We were all having a good laugh about that today. We get on very well because he's crazy. He's really open, very outgoing. He likes to have fun, which sort of suits in pretty well with my personality. As a player, he's very dangerous. People know he has a great serve but he's been returning pretty well, too. He can do anything or he can do nothing on any given day. When he's on, he's on. There's not too many better players running around than Goran when he's on. I have a lot of respect for his game." on the du Maurier Open : It's a fantastic thrill for me to win a Super 9, I would like to have rolled around the court like after the (1997) U.S. Open but I was so tired. On Rod Laver's accident : This is Rod Laver's 60th birthday and he needs our prayers. So we send out a lot of love. on s'Hertogenbosch: Everyone has told me that I have to go to Amsterdam, since it's such a nice city. I planned to spend one night there before going to Wimbledon, so I did my laundry in the bathtub every night so that I would be ready to go in case I lost. "Wanker wake up!!"
"I dunno how I won it.
Obviously there are a lot of 'mates out there who think I'm a good player.
I personally voted for Todd Martin. I just wanna say thanks."
"No, I didn't read that.
Probably summed it up pretty well (laughter). "
"Maybe, hopefully, I
can prove John wrong. "
"We're in a bit of a
low patch," he said. "I would like to be someone
"Sorry, mate!"
"I'm a bad ball-tosser," "Female, is it?" he
said. "That's not a bad thing."
"We had lots of fun
in the back yard. We used to have a little butterfly collection. I used
to go out with my tennis racquet and kill butterflies and put them on my
windowsill."
"There was a couple
years where I was very frustrated, a bit of a miserable bastard on the
Q Philippoussis isn't
putting any Ferrari ideas --
"Everyone has told me
that I have to go to Amsterdam, since it's such a nice city. I planned
"Punch him in the head
as I go past, change of ends (laughter)."
"I'm definitely 10 percent less than what I was last year," "The Slams are
what we play for, and for me, Davis Cup," he said. "They're my biggest
priorities. Obviously, I try in every match, but the Slams are something
I really focus on. If I don't win another one, bad luck. But I'm going
to be out there trying. If I try and give 100 percent, then I'm going
to be happy. I find no negative in that at all."
“I was just born when
they were finishing their careers. But I heard a lot about them. I thought
they were some sort of gods or something in Australia. My father always
talked about
On his sex-symbol status: “No complaints.” “If I fall to 50 in
the world and I’m happy, it’s better than being #1 and being a
“I think I’d like to be #1,” Rafter says. “I never would have said that a while ago, but you never know. Things might happen again which I had never dreamed of . . .” "I've won two tournaments in my life, and one was the U.S. Open." "We have a proud tradition," he said of Australian players. "Whenever I get a call to represent my country, I'm there. It's a shame the other guys don't feel the same way. There's nothing better than winning for your country." - Pat Rafter chiding the Americans for not wanting to play in the Davis Cup. "There were a lot of people giving me advice, but I didn't really listen to them. I like to sort of learn the lessons myself." "I am not that handsome!" "Things are great. As for any resolutions for the future: I want to remain the same old sack of crap that I am." "I remember saying, 'What are you doing in there, Patrick?' " Jocelyn says now. "The other kids were just delighted. They'd pass him or lob him because he was so little. You knew he could do better from the baseline. But Patrick always said, 'I just love it, Mum. I just love it there.' "Meet Me After" Rafter- female fans have dubbed him "I didn't even go out with girls until I was 20," confesses Patrick Rafter. "I was afraid of girls in high school." "Sexy is really not a word I use very much or think about very much. When I go out, I really dress down to grunge." "to be silly." - Rafter on his ponytail. "But what women like best, he claims, are his legs, though he says, "I can't see that." "If I want to have steak for breakfast, I will." "He does whatever the book says to be number one," Rafter says, "having quiet dinners, get so many hours sleep ... I'm not knocking him for that, but I wouldn't enjoy it. That wouldn't be a life, for me, if I feel like going to the bar for a drink with my mates, I'll go. I just do what I feel. I just go on how I feel." "Is it right to have a good time?" - (NOTE : I wonder if he was referring to that Davis Cup hangover? ;) ) "It's not the textbook way to get to number two in the world. No-one teaches you. You just have to find out what's best for your personality. I'm learning things all the time. " "Look, I'm not gay mate,
what are you trying to do here"
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© 1998 AtpNba