US OPEN

September 3, 1997

Patrick Rafter

Q. (Inaudible) pull out, mate?

PATRICK RAFTER: I feel pretty good at the moment. Obviously I didn't get to sleep till around six o'clock in the morning. The adrenaline was still going. You know, it was a small price to pay for having a win like that.

PATRICK RAFTER: Just the adrenaline. I felt very tired with my body, but mentally you're just clicking over the whole time. You lie down, get back up. I mean, I had to get up and go to the toilet a few times; drank that much water. I was never going to get to sleep anyway.

PATRICK RAFTER: Well, I'd like to think so. I'm young enough, fit enough, I think, to be able to recover. I'm doing all the right things at the moment. I've just got to fuel up, hopefully get a great sleep tonight.

PATRICK RAFTER: I think it was about 1-All in the fourth.

PATRICK RAFTER: Hasn't been a problem for a while. I think just the whole nerves and the situation, you know, just me getting excited. It all sort of plays a part.

PATRICK RAFTER: Under the circumstances, under the conditions, the fourth round, packed stadium, I mean, it is very rewarding, very exciting for me. Quarterfinals now of the US Open, and a chance to maybe continue on. Who knows?

PATRICK RAFTER: There's eight guys out there I think can win, one of them. If I get the breaks, you know, I think I have as good a chance as anyone.

PATRICK RAFTER: You've got to expect that, you know. Agassi has been No. 1. You say his name down the street and everyone knows who Agassi is. They still think he's No. 1 in the world. People that don't understand tennis, they know Agassi. They think he's the No. 1. I guess that's just normal.

PATRICK RAFTER: I mean, it's great to do well. I guess if you do well, you know, if you become No. 1 in the world, and you have a bit -- I mean, Agassi has that real flamboyancy, real charisma that captures everything as well as being No. 1.

PATRICK RAFTER: You know, not taking anything away from Woodforde, but I when I beat Woodforde in the fourth round to make the quarterfinals of the French, it was very exciting because it was my first quarterfinals at a Grand Slam. But this one just seems to be something a little bit different. Not more special or anything, just different, because of what I had to go through with the whole crowd. I guess it's such of a relief, a real excitement. The buzz out there was just sort of hard to explain. It was so electric out there.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, I think so. He's still not the same player as he was in '95. When I played him at the Australian Open '95, you know, I wasn't either, mind you. But, you know, the reason he was No. 1 is because he was the best. But he's not the best at the moment.

PATRICK RAFTER: He's probably got to get himself in shape a little bit. When he was playing well, he was a bit quicker. He looked pretty fit out there, actually. But his quickness was still a half a step slower than what he usually is. Probably his returns. He returned quite well, but I thought when he was playing his best, he was returning better.

PATRICK RAFTER: Definitely serving better, too. Just not missing from the baseline. You know, putting them under a lot of pressure, saying, "You have to beat me from the baseline." Moving better, volleying better. Everything about my game.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, have been sort of messing around with it a little bit. Seems to be working well.

PATRICK RAFTER: No idea. Is there a night match?

PATRICK RAFTER: I guess that would be a Chang match, though.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah. Pretty hard not to put Chang on a night match. I'd be happy to go back on night.

PATRICK RAFTER: Wouldn't mind. Get more sleep. Sort of in that rhythm at the moment. I haven't been getting up till one o'clock because of the doubles the night before, as well, the adrenaline and everything. You just don't get to sleep till so late. You try to sleep as long as can you.

PATRICK RAFTER: Larsson, I played him a few weeks ago in Cincinnati. We had a really tough match, which I got through. Could have gone either way. He's very dangerous. He's very loose the way he plays. You know, I think dangerous is the best word for him.

PATRICK RAFTER: Very light.

PATRICK RAFTER: That was very tough for me. Then the first point of the fourth set, he hit a screaming forehand winner return. I thought, "Here we go, a bit of trouble now." He had a bit of a fist pump, the crowd went nuts again. I sort of scratched my head a little bit, like I'm doing right now. You know, then I had to try to compose myself, say, "Forget about it. There's a long way to go. Just try and block everything out. This is another set." I did that very well.

PATRICK RAFTER: It wasn't till the 4-3 game. He did a double-fault. Then I played a really good point to go up Love-30. Then the tension starts getting into the match. I knew if it started getting tight, probably had a lot more matches, I'm more match tough than he is. One thing that Newc and Rochey especially stressed to me, "When he gets tight, put the pressure on him." He hasn't had the matches. It's true. He folded when it got tight.

PATRICK RAFTER: Me and Fitzy worked a few weeks this week, six or eight weeks this year. Rochey and Newc are always going to be here for this tournament. Rochey has a lot more to do, helps me more mentally than anything. Before the match, "Just compose yourself." He's been through there. Rochey has been through it before. They just know what it feels like to be in the situation.

PATRICK RAFTER: I suppose so, yeah. But I always serve-volley a lot. Maybe a few more times.

PATRICK RAFTER: Myself and probably Siemerink are the two biggest ones right now.

PATRICK RAFTER: Something, it's my game, always done it since I've been a young kid. I'm not going to change that. You know, I suppose the game doesn't allow for too many serve volleyers anymore.

PATRICK RAFTER: I guess so. But, you know, the other way I look at that is, it's such a plus, because no one is playing a serve-volley anymore, so it works in my favor, I think.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, he passed great. Yeah, it may have been. The four matches I've played so far this year, here at this tournament, have all been the same players.

PATRICK RAFTER: I answered that just before.

PATRICK RAFTER: What did I say (laughter)? It was a long night, mate.

PATRICK RAFTER: I said I have as good a chance as anyone.

PATRICK RAFTER: Not really. I mean, Magnus has a big serve. I've just got to try to get it back. He has a big forehand. You know, I think I have to play my game, have to do it well. No real secret to that.

PATRICK RAFTER: Wasn't necessarily Mark, not at all. I think what happened, when I had the injuries and you saw everyone started to go by me, how I'd lost enthusiasm for the game there for a while. Then when I sat back and looked for probably four months, it sort of ate at me. I said, "I want to get back into this." This is what I did. It just gave me that hunger to get back in. It wasn't Mark necessarily at all. It was just me looking, sitting back there for too long, knowing that I do love the game.

PATRICK RAFTER: I was also thinking about I have to go to the toilet because I drank so much water. Afraid if I fell asleep, I'd wet my bed or something. It was a combination of a lot of things. I know I had to keep thinking of the toilet, that was one thing.

PATRICK RAFTER: At the end of the match?

PATRICK RAFTER: No. I think everyone was just sort of on a bit of a high, excited. Maybe now today he might sit down and go through a few things with me. At that stage, it was just, "Well done, great effort."

PATRICK RAFTER: Sense of what?

PATRICK RAFTER: Than the other players?

PATRICK RAFTER: Countries?

PATRICK RAFTER: We're pretty tight, actually, like that. That's one thing -- that's why it's been such a Davis Cup nation. I think we always have someone close to breaking through. We all do stand behind each other. I got a few phone calls, some of my mates, Paul Kildery called me from Las Vegas, said, "Well done." Little things like that, it's really nice. A few of the guys do that. I don't know if the other countries have that, but the Aussie players, it's a good feeling.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yes.

PATRICK RAFTER: Had a couple brothers, a lot of friends from Bermuda there, and some from Reebok as well. I filled out the box pretty well. Pretty excited, I mean. They felt like they were taking on the whole crowd. 15 of them. Did a pretty bloody good job of it.

PATRICK RAFTER: No.