RAFTERISMS
RAFTERISMS
This is a collection of statements made by Pat Rafter or said about him which I find sweet or memorable. If you know of any which I don't have here or which you would like to see here......email me at atpnba@oocities.com
"Wanker wake up!!"
-Rafter in his French Open match vs. Stoltenberg
[FYI Wanker means a silly or stupid person]
"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."
-Rafter on winning the ATP Tour award for Sportsmanship
"He's been an incredible role model for all of us
(Australian players). I feel proud when I'm out on
the court because he's done so much for us
already. He's layed the foundation and I just want
to keep it going. I wish him all the best and I
hope he gets strong and back to full health."
Patrick Rafter on Rod Laver, who is recovering from a stroke.
"No, I didn't read that. Probably summed it up
pretty well (laughter). "
-Rafter's reply to McEnroe's comment that he's
a one slam wonder.
[Don't you love Pat? He's so relaxed and happy
to have achieved something most players never have the opportunity to fulfill.
Good for him!!!]
"Maybe, hopefully, I can prove John wrong. "
-Another Rafter reply to McEnroe's comment.
"We're in a bit of a low patch," he said. "I
would like to be someone
who could help start that back up again."
- on the popularity of Austrailian Tennis
"Sorry, mate!"
-to Magnus Gustafusson in their Wimbledon match
because of his bad ball tossing.
"I'm a bad ball-tosser,"
"Female, is it?" he said. "That's not a bad thing."
-on the fact that Rafter has more female followers.
"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."
-Rafter on one of his childhood memories
"There was a couple years where I was very frustrated,
a bit of a miserable bastard on the
court (laughter)."
-[I just put this one in cuz it's fun to imagine
the word bastrd with an aussie accent]
Q Philippoussis isn't putting any Ferrari ideas
--
PATRICK RAFTER: No. He's got a Lamborghini. That's
too good. I'll go down to
Australia and drive his, I think.
"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 sonthat I would be ready to go in
case I lost."
-Patrick Rafter at 's-Hertogenbosch, where he
won the title [Hieneken Title]
"Punch him in the head as I go past, change of
ends (laughter)."
-Rafter kidding on how to beat Sampras
"I'm definitely 10 percent less than what I was
last year," said Rafter
"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."
-Rafter on his shaky playing in 1998
“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
those guys.”
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
pain in the ass.”
[Hmm.. gee Pete is this sending you a message?
Just Kiddin' :) ]
“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"
-Rafter's answer when a photographer kept insisting
he wear some tight blue shorts. *shucks Pat! I would have loved to see
that ;)*
"This young man is very special and knowing his wonderful parents
and brother I can
understand why they are all the very best of the best! "
-Nick Boletteri's profile of Rafter
"a one Slam wonder."
-John McEnroe commenting on Rafter
"The game of tennis needs people like Rafter. Frankly he's too popular
and too good looking a guy not to have around."
-John McEnroe on the decline of men's tennis
He may still sport the same long, curly locks that drive women mad
the world over, but Australian Patrick Rafter is not the same player he
was when he reached the Roland Garros semifinals a year ago.
-Matther Cronin
Sampras has been saying for years that he just wants respect
and recognition as a good player and a good bloke who sticks up for tennis
tradition, yet this upstart Rafter is congratulated for all this after
one grand slam. Chang is a hard sell outside Asia. Agassi’s
heartthrob image is in bad need of a makeover. Rafter is eminently
marketable. He has no competition in the looker stakes. He has reintroduced
good old sex appeal to men’s tennis (remember Bjorn Borg, Vitas Gerulaitis
and Guillermo Vilas – men who actually tried to appeal to women?). Rafter
attracts thousands through the turnstiles, mostly of the young and female
variety, he sells shirts and shoes, he draws tv viewers.
[ya hear that!? ya hear that!? hehehe :D ]
Sports Illustrated tagged him ‘the Australian dreamboat Pat Rafter’.
American writer Gene Scott raved: “If tennis can’t market Rafter as
the game’s
next headliner, the game doesn’t deserve him. His smooth bronze face
punctuated by dark eyes is matinee idol material.”
Distinguished tennis writer Richard Evans wrote: “He will quickly become
the kind of open, charming, sexy superstar the game so badly needs.”
"He's as nice as he is smoldering," says CBS and HBO commentator Mary Carillo.
"Patrick is a naturally built athlete, but he's a little bowlegged." - Pat's coach Gary Stickler
"He looks like a Samuri warriour with that ponytail." - Patrick McEnroe and Cliff Drysdale
"Yes he is the man. My 17 year old daughter is all excited to be coming down here next weekend, not to see me but this guy." - Cliff Drysdale
"Yes..he's popular with all the teenagers, this guy Patrick Rafter. They're all comng to see him." - Patrick McEnroe
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