The Daily Rafter Report
March 16, 2000
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Pat defeated Marcos Ondruska 6-3, 7-6 in the first round at Indian Wells today.
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Pat was defeated 4-6, 2-6 by Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 1st round at Scottsdale.
Next up Indian Wells.
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Pat defeated Hipfl 6-2, 7-5 in the second round at Delray beach today. Next up Goldstein.
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Pat's back !!!! Pat defeated Herman Gumy at Delray Beach today 6-2, 7-6. Way to go Pat!!!
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Pat is now back in Bermuda after a weeks holiday in Fiji. He will commence training and strengthening his shoulder and after Davis Cup in Zurich, will be joined by Muddy who will do more work with him. He has confirmed that he will play Delray Beach at the end of February.
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Pat pulled out of the Australian Open after he pulled up sore from hitting
backhands on the first day at practice. Pat kept up his physio in between playing spectator at the Australian
Open. On Saturday 22nd January, Pat flew back to Bermuda for 5 weeks training to ready himself for Delray
Beach, Florida in March. Pat won't be attending the Davis Cup in Zurich, even to just sit on the sidelines
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In the quarter finals Pat and Wayne had a walkover when Jason Stoltenberg pulled out of the doubles with Scott Draper preferring to rest his knee for the singles semi final. In the semi final Pat/Wayne were defeated by the Woodies 6-3, 6-4. Next up Pat and Wayne will contest the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
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Pat played his first match since the US Open today. Pat partnered Wayne Arthurs in the doubles to defeat N. Broad/B. Haggarth 6-4, 6-4. Rafter's first service game was cautious - his top serving speed of 145km/hr more often seen in the women's game. The former world No.1 preferred the less strenuous kick serving action, although he appeared to be moving freely.
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Today Pat plays doubles with Wayne Arthurs at the Adidas tournament in Sydney. During practice on Sunday he incurred some pain in the shoulder but said he should be OK to play the doubles in Sydney and at the Australian Open. He would also love to be considered for the doubles in the first round in Zurich for Davis Cup as it will be 6 months before his shoulder is fully recovered and he can get back to the normal workload of playing up to 5 sets in singles.
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Pat is still unsure whether he will play singles or doubles at the Australian Open but it is looking more like doubles with Wayne Arthurs. Pat hopes to play the Adidas doubles before the Open. Pat and Lara will spend New Years Eve on Sydney Harbour on the Packer's yacht.
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Pat took part in the Davis cup ticker tape parade in Melbourne today. The weather was perfect and it was a fitting tribute to our Davis Cup heroes. Congratulations!
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In Pat's Sunday column today he said that he has been given the all clear by his doctor to start stretching out but after talking to his physio he has decided to continue on his present course of taking things slowly. He said the doctors report was encouraging though. Although Pat hasn't made any commitment to where and when he will start playing again, he is still confident of playing the Australian tennis season. Pat is looking forward to the ticker tape parade in Melbourne on Wednesday. None of the Davis Cup guys have ever been involved in anything like that so they are understandably excited about it.
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Monday saw Pat at Fox promoting his new book "Rocket to the Top". Pat also took some time out to to ten pin bowl with some kids from the Special Olympics. He said he still wasn't sure if he would play singles or doubles at the Aus Open. He is hungry to play Davis Cup again and watching the final was torture for him, he said
"there's this sort of uncomfortable feeling in there as well as come on guys, let's do it and then you you think, oh geez, I wish I was there, this is hurting"
Pat was pleased to see how Mark's attitude has changed and said
"To see him in the Davis Cup really made me think, oh well, things really have changed and in the end he is becoming the
person that we all knew he would be".
As for the post Cup party Pat said it is an Aussie tradition to celebrate but this one may have gone a tad too far
"I think the young lady on there probably topped it all off"
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Just back from the trip of a lifetime to Nice, France to watch our boys win the Davis Cup 3-2. They did a superb job and although Mark and the Woodies brought it home for Australia, we can't forget the fantastic effort Lleyton, Wayne and Pat put in to get us there. Well done! Pics are now up on the media photo galleries page and DC Experiences will be put up on the Experience page on Planet Rafter over the next few days. The first tie of the year will be against Switzerland and if we get through that the following ties would all be played in Australia. Pat had his first hit up with Josh Eagle this week in Melbourne and also worked with The Melbourne Storm RL team. Pat has decided to wait till next week to have another hit. He is also going into the Australian open on a wildcard so that if he has to pull out of singles he can still defend his doubles trophy with Jonas.
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Over the last week Pat appeared on the TV show The Panel in Melbourne and was spotted at the theatre complex at Crown with Lara standing in line to purchase a ticket. Pat's book "Rocket to the Top - On the Road with Pat Rafter" was released on Friday 26th November. Pat appears in "Our Australian Century" - 2000 collector's edition calendar on the June page under the heading Sporting Moments. Pat is also listed with the tennis greats in this calendar which is a wonderful achievement for him and well deserved of course. The best news though is that Pat's physio has given him the all clear to start hitting up again in readiness for the Australian summer circuit. Can't wait, tennis isn't the same without Pat.
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Pat won the Favourite Sports person award on The People's Choice in Australia Friday night, 19th November, 1999.
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Pat's ranking went up one today to No. 16. Pat Rafter will permanently modify his training schedule even when he finally shakes off his current shoulder injury. In his column in the Sunday Telegraph, Pat said that he would cut back on the amount of serving he does in practice even when the tear in his rotator cuff tendon is fully healed.
"One of the things I have to change is my practice habits," Rafter said. "I will not be able to hit as many serves and the work in that areas is going to have to be reduced. How that will affect my game is something I will not know until I start playing again. But I do not have a choice. I have only so many serves left in my body and it is
up to me how and where I use them."
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Today Pat's ranking slipped to No. 17. On Sunday Pat was seen rubbing shoulders with the stars at the grand opening of Fox Studios in Sydney. He said that his shoulder was responding well and he was pretty confident of playing the Australian Open and the lead up tournaments, the Australian Hardcourt in Adelaide and The Colonial Classic in Melbourne
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No news on Pat in the last week, although it was reported in the Herald Sun in Melbourne that Pat and Lara attended Derby Day at Flemington racecourse on Saturday, 30th October. Lara was dressed in cream and Pat looked very dapper in a suit and tie with his arm in a sling.
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Pat slipped another point down the ATP Rankings ladder today from 13 to 14.
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Pat Rafter's chances of playing in the Australian Open 2000 received a major boost today when his doctor declared his shoulder arthroscopy a success. The dual US Open champion is
expected to start hitting balls again in six week's time, giving him more than a month of practice and tournament play before the first Grand Slam of the new Millennium.
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Pat will be undergoing the surgery on Sunday. He is feeling confident it will be the best case scenario and although he realises his dream of playing in the Davis Cup final has now gone, he is looking at being back in time for the Australian Open in January.
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Report from Channel 10 news: At best Pat will be out of action for three months, missing the
Davis Cup and the Australian Open, the worst case scenario is approximately 6 months on the
sidelines. He will be having surgery to repair the tear in his rotator cuff. Pat had two surgery
options: the first a clean up which would sideline him for up to three months, the second to stitch
the tear back together which will keep him out for six months. Pat will be operated on in
Melbourne on the weekend where first the surgeons will assess the damage and if the tear is worse
than initial scans indicate they will perform a full operation to repair the problem. Dr. Greg Hoy will
perform the operation (he also operated on Shane Warne and other cricketers). While initially
reluctant to have the surgery Pat is now convinced it is a better move long term.
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PARIS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Australian Pat Rafter on Wednesday pulled out of November's Paris
Open. The Australian will miss the lucrative indoor event as he is still plagued by the shoulder
injury which has troubled him since the U.S. Open. The withdrawal of the double U.S. Open champion
may hamper his chances of playing for his country in the Davis Cup final against France in December.
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If you would like to send Pat a birthday and/or holiday gift, please go to the birthday/holiday gift page. All gifts must be recieved by November 20, 1999.
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Pat is flying to Melbourne this week to to continue working with Muddy. "Rochey" is heading overseas to catch up with the other guys in the squad and Pat will be hitting up with players who are in Melbourne for the satellite tournaments. Pat is concerned his shoulder injury may force him to miss the Davis Cup final against France in December. In an interview to be aired on Foxtel on LAWS on 18th October, Pat says if his shoulder injury does not show some improvement in the next month he may be forced to have surgery. This will leave him little time to prepare for the final. "There's still a lot of gunk and rubbish inside the shoulder", Rafter says. "I think it will settle down if I can get the strength back. The problem is I haven't been able to do certain movements, and certain muscles aren't really working the way I'd like them to work. If it doesn't get better in the next three or four weeks then I'm probably going to have a good look at surgery. Maybe it needs an MRI and maybe it might need a clean-out, I really don't know". Sitting there and going through it with the boys (in Brisbane) and the wins..... I just wanted to go and tackle Lleyton at the end as well. I want to try and get ready for the Davis Cup, I'll do everything and sacrifice a lot of things to play"
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It was reported by oncourt.com that Pat's shoulder is nearly 100% now which is great news. This week he will fly to Sydney to stay with Tony Roche to practice before heading overseas. His first tournament will be in Paris the first week of November.
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What a fantastic Davis Cup victory for Australia 4-1 against Russia. Thanks to the incredible play by Lleyton Hewitt and Wayne Arthurs, Pat now has the chance to realise his life's dream to play in the final of a Davis Cup for his country. The final will be against France and will be played in Nice from 3rd to 5th December, 1999. Pat has been working hard and this week started serving again. The tear in his shoulder has healed beautifully. Pat will head off to Europe in the next couple of weeks to play in the Paris indoor tournament and Stockholm. He may play another clay tournament before the Davis Cup. Go Pat!!!!!!!!!
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Today the ATP Official rankings were announced and Pat has dropped to No. 12 and is ranked No. 10 on The Road to Hanover. Whether Pat plays again this year will hinge on the outcome of the Davis Cup. If Australia were to lose, Pat would take the rest of the year off but if Australia won Pat will play a few tournaments before the final tie in December.