In response, in the summer of 1998, Rafter went on to claim titles in Toronto and Cincinnati (beating none other than Sampras in the final, 1-6, 7-6, 6-4). In 1998, his disappointing results in the first half of the season made John McEnroe criticize him as a one-Slam winner and Pete Sampras stated that Rafter would need a second Major title to be called a great player.
It was only his second ATP level title ever!! On his way to the victory, he had defeated Andre Agassi (then ranked No 63, 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3), world No 2 Michael Chang (6-3, 6-3, 6-4) and Greg Rusedski in the final (6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5).
A few months later, after reaching two finals, in Indianapolis and Long Island, he claimed the US Open title to the surprise of many folks. In 1997, his career got off to a jumpstart when he reached the semi-final in Roland-Garros, defeated by Sergi Bruguera, one of the top clay-courters of the time (6-7, 6-1, 7-5, 7-6). He had reached his best ranking in 1994 as No 21 and had spent most of his time outside the top 40. The Australian had not achieved any remarkable results in his early career, claiming only one title before 1997, which came at the Manchester Open in 1994. Patrick Rafter was born in 1972 and turned pro in 1991. The Australian, who had just reached the semi-final at Wimbledon 10 months after his second US Open crown would only secure that spot for one week, setting a record of the shortest reign in tennis history. On this day, July 26 in 1999, Patrick Rafter became the first Australian to reach the world No 1 ranking since John Newcombe in 1974.
0 kommentar(er)
