NEWSWEEK CHAMPIONS CUP

March 9, 1999

Patrick Rafter

GREG SHARKO: First question for Patrick.

PATRICK RAFTER: I think it's just not doing the hard work so far. I'm playing a lot better than what I was last week anyway. So things are starting to come along. Hopefully next week will just be better. Just a matter of not playing enough at the moment.

PATRICK RAFTER: Today wasn't too bad. I just knew it was, you know, just trying -- just finding the form a little bit. I felt it coming back a little bit. I've still got a ways to go. Today wasn't a matter of a lot of frustration out there.

PATRICK RAFTER: I had a week of commitments to do. I did a little bit of tennis. I went skiing for a week, played golf for a week. Not a lot. I mean, not been doing a lot of training. You know, I came into this year knowing that anyway. But now I've got to do a little bit more. The training, my tournaments, I actually will be playing steadily now all the way through pretty much till the end of the year with a few weeks here and there in between. So I've had my fun.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah. I mean, I think the mental bit comes with winning and everything again. I'm not in the position where I'm drained from playing too many matches. It will come back, I think, yeah.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. I just started cramping about 2-All. I think it was 3-2 when I was down in the third set, just started cramping for no reason. That was a little bit annoying.

PATRICK RAFTER: No, no, no. I've been able to keep up the conditioning while I've been away. I feel fit and everything and strong out there. It's just I've always had a problem with cramping. It's just another one of those unfortunate things.

PATRICK RAFTER: From then on, my whole movement was restricted. I didn't get off from my serve and take off.

PATRICK RAFTER: I don't have the same problem? Is that what you mean.

PATRICK RAFTER: Last year was a lot of tennis for me, as well. Last two years have been a lot of tennis. I think it's important to take a step back at some stage and just look at life a little bit. Sometimes, you know, you don't actually do that. I'm well aware that this year's going to be sort of one of those up-and-down years, and I'm someone who needs to play a lot of tennis for my form to remain the same. It will come back.

PATRICK RAFTER: Well, just sort of live life a little bit. As I said, I'd never do something like skiing before. That's something I just felt like doing. Whether it was stupid or not, I don't know. It's just something I feel like, enjoying myself a little bit, where I've just been so sheltered and tennis, tennis, tennis the whole time.

PATRICK RAFTER: Whistler.

PATRICK RAFTER: Had a good time.

PATRICK RAFTER: Not really (laughter). I had a good time.

PATRICK RAFTER: My golf game is good, too. For me anyway.

PATRICK RAFTER: I did mostly skiing, one or two days of snowboarding.

PATRICK RAFTER: No, I suck.

PATRICK RAFTER: No.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yes.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yes. I have a place up there, so I'll be going back.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. A lot of powder. I felt like running down there and falling over a few times.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, everyone told me not to do it.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah. Anyway, I'm here. I'm fit.

PATRICK RAFTER: In one piece, yeah.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. I was an orange boy there for a lot of '95 and most of '96. It was very frustrating sitting back there and doing that. I think Lleyton is in a position now where he has an opportunity to really play. It's great for him. He deserves it at the moment.

PATRICK RAFTER: Just a term, I guess. Just sit back there and watch the other guys play. At that stage, we were loosing a lot so it was very frustrating sitting on the sidelines and watching that. Hopefully it won't be the case. But I think Lleyton is someone who is definitely in position to play until hopefully I can pick up my form in Miami and show some results and give Rochey and Newc a reason for me to play as well.

PATRICK RAFTER: Definitely.

PATRICK RAFTER: Well, I mean, I think he sees Davis Cup pretty similar to the rest of the Aussie boys where we all love playing. He'll be giving it a good shot to play. He's had the results on the board. Listen, if I go to Miami and go out pretty early again, I can't see myself taking a lot of confidence into Davis Cup. But then again, Davis Cup turns things around for a lot of people. It has for me in the past.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. No.

PATRICK RAFTER: I'm playing.

PATRICK RAFTER: Oh, I don't know. I really don't know their reasoning for not playing. Maybe they have another reason. But it's the first thing that goes into my schedule, is the Davis Cup. Brought up with different values. I'm not quite sure if that's got anything to do with it. I'd love to be able to speak on their behalf, but I really can't because I don't know the reason.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. I really haven't been doing any serving practice since my knee. So this week has been the only time I've done actual serving training. And the last week was bloody awful, my serve. This time it's just awful. But I can feel it coming together, so it's not a frustrating thing. It's getting there. It will be there at some stage.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. I was very frustrated last week, very disappointed. When you get off your ass and you do some work, you feel better about yourself. I think that's what I've been able to do over the last few days. Going out there and losing, I feel like at least I put in a little bit of an effort and prepared for this tournament. I think I'll be going into Miami, you know, with a -- I'll be doing a lot of training as well. Hopefully I can get a lot more doubles matches here.

PATRICK RAFTER: I only see winning, hopefully. I don't want to be sitting there at the end of the day and know that we've lost. There's not a worse feeling than losing Davis Cup. There's not a worse one.

PATRICK RAFTER: Not really.

PATRICK RAFTER: Not near there.

PATRICK RAFTER: I don't know. I really don't know.

PATRICK RAFTER: I don't read it actually. I know what you're saying, though. Those sort of questions, do you get frustrated with that? I don't know. You get used to answering that at the end of the day, Craig. Like you coming in and saying, "What happened today?" I'm just good at saying, "It's just another one of those."

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, yeah. I just want to play well again. If I play well again, I'll be happy. If No. 1 comes along, it comes along.

PATRICK RAFTER: I guess there's a negative side of it, too.

PATRICK RAFTER: Really hard to say. I hope it will be a platform for me to get into the Davis Cup and go from there. I think it's important that I do play well there. Again, I don't really know.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, done bungee before.

PATRICK RAFTER: I'll jump out of a plane, that sort of thing. To go snowboarding down a black diamond run for the first time is something probably a bit stupid, so I wouldn't do that. I don't see anything like the other things that bad.

PATRICK RAFTER: Good.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, off a crane.

PATRICK RAFTER: No.

PATRICK RAFTER: I have a brother Peter that travels with me a lot. Rochey is around quite a bit. This week I have another brother here. I have another two brothers here.

PATRICK RAFTER: Tony Roche. He's with a lot of the players, so he comes and goes.

PATRICK RAFTER: Extreme thing?

PATRICK RAFTER: I don't have any real immediate plans right now. I don't have that many plans just yet. Whatever.

PATRICK RAFTER: I've never played him before, so I really don't know. How good is he? I think what he is is what his ranking suggests. Nothing really exceptional I didn't find.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah. Well, it has a lot to do with it, yeah, if I'm feeling good. I thought I volleyed pretty well and I returned okay. I just didn't really take my chances early in the first set. But he's not one that really stands out to me.

PATRICK RAFTER: The knee has been an ongoing, long saga that's come and gone for many, many years. Last year it just sort of came to the point where it frustrated me a lot. I decided to take that time off to get it better. Ever since then, it's been great. I've been able to do a lot of strength work on it.

PATRICK RAFTER: I like him because he's got a great mentality. He's a really good fighter. I think when you have a quality like that, I think there's really no limit to how far he can go. I put him in the same sort of boat of like a Michael Chang. Very, very quick, good counter-puncher. Can be aggressive and strong from the baseline. But he's tough. He's tough. More people that cheer against him, the better he gets.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, he's a tough little fella.