TENNIS players the world over would love to know Pat Rafter's secret weapon.

Is it his serve and volley? His mother? Or his girlfriend? His clean lifestyle?

The Sunday Mail can reveal the unknown power behind the new world No 1 is Brisbane body therapist Vicki Bailey.

It's Mrs Bailey Rafter turns to after months of pounding the world tennis circuit.

Each time Rafter returns to Brisbane, one of his first ports of call is Mrs Bailey's Renaissance Natural Health Centre in Everton Hills.

It's there that Mrs Bailey reinvigorates and repairs the wear and tear to which Rafter subjects his body.

A typical Rafter session on Mrs Bailey's workbench consists of a two-hour full body massage where her magic fingers identify any structural or muscle problems.

Mrs Bailey then follows up with 30-minute intensive therapy sessions on any damaged area.

Depending on the damage, and Rafter's timetable, the pair could work together, three times a week, for up to six weeks.

Rafter thinks so highly of Mrs Bailey's skills that he has flown her to Adelaide, Melbourne, Mildura and Townsville to treat him.

Mrs Bailey first helped Queensland's favourite sporting son in March 1995.

"I found a few things which were wrong and we worked together to correct them," she said.

"He then asked me to go to the Australian Open in Melbourne in 1996. That's where he badly damaged his wrist."

Mrs Bailey said Rafter went to a string of specialists to fix his wrist and came back to her in February 1996.

"Pat said to me: 'All the specialists have had a go and now it's your turn. You've got five weeks to get me up and running.

"We worked intensively on it, using deep tissue and muscle manipulation and had it fixed by the end of March."

Mrs Bailey said Rafter's main problem areas were his knees, elbow, wrist and shoulder.

"It's been an absolute privilege to work with him and all the Rafter family," she said.

"I'm very proud of what he's achieved. He put his head down and bum up and said 'This is what I'm going to do' – and he did it."