GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 12, 1999

Patrick Rafter

ATP: Questions for Patrick.

PATRICK RAFTER: Holding up pretty well. I'm still doing treatment on it, but it's coming along well.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah. Pretty general stuff.

PATRICK RAFTER: I don't know. I'll just have to gauge it, see how it goes. I served really well today. If I keep that up, I'll see. It's held up well over the last few days.

PATRICK RAFTER: Well, I played one of my best matches I played all summer now. That's encouraging. See if I can put two together.

PATRICK RAFTER: I really don't know. I'll be there trying to play every tournament I can. If it gets sore now, I'll take off time before The Open. I'll sacrifice the other tournaments for the US Open.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah. That's another big event I want to be ready for.

PATRICK RAFTER: All you need is one little thing to happen and it's back on track. It's pretty important that I was a double break up in the second set. Things can turn around really quickly. I didn't want to let him into the match. It didn't go that way today.

PATRICK RAFTER: Michael is playing better than he's played for nearly a year now. That's good for Michael. I really don't know what to expect from him, though. I don't really know how well he's been playing. He is not same player he was in '97, but it's starting to come back. He's starting to get a little bit of confidence. It will be a tough match. I think the last three times I've played Cedric, I've beaten him. I have had pretty good results against him. We all know that he can play good tennis. But either guy, I'm just hoping I can play another good match like I did today. If I can, then I'll be feeling pretty confident.

PATRICK RAFTER: No.

PATRICK RAFTER: No.

PATRICK RAFTER: No.

PATRICK RAFTER: I'd like to do very well here. Ultimately, the US Open is what I'm getting ready for. This is a huge tournament, as well, don't get me wrong. I mean, I'm here to win this tournament. Considering the way I started the summer, it's not the normal way I come into Super 9's. I'm usually a little bit better prepared than what I am. This year, because of Davis Cup, I have come in pretty unprepared because I had to take a break after Davis Cup. Usually I play LA and get a lot of practice for the Super 9's.

PATRICK RAFTER: My goal was to have sort of a bit more of a relaxed year. The last two years have been very intense and very tough, and I didn't want to play as much. It is very tough to keep playing that many matches. I have played a lot of singles and doubles.

PATRICK RAFTER: No.

PATRICK RAFTER: No.

PATRICK RAFTER: Definitely. But you have to realize, Andre is probably in a different boat than what I am. Andre he stands out a lot, and he plays that whole role really well, very flamboyant. When he goes out, I'd hate to see what sort of attention the guy brings, no matter what part of the world he's in. He deals with a lot more emotional crap than what I have to. He does incredibly well for what he has to put up with.

PATRICK RAFTER: Constantly people are hounding him. He's trying to be a nice guy. People are asking things, wanting things, talking to him. He just wants to have a bit of peace of mind, I'm sure. He has that a lot worse than I do.

PATRICK RAFTER: For me it's not that bad. Every now and then, people might come up. While I'm at a restaurant or eating, I don't.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, everybody knows the tournament is on. If I was staying downtown or if I was staying somewhere in another city, the tournament was centered there, don't get too much recognition.

PATRICK RAFTER: No. Some places you just don't get it. It's quite nice. You can always feel people's eyes. Sometimes you don't feel them. That's a good feeling.

PATRICK RAFTER: I have no idea. I haven't been to New Orleans, I haven't been to Las Vegas.

PATRICK RAFTER: It's not working.

PATRICK RAFTER: I'm not playing much, not doing the training. Then I decided I wasn't really happy, so I decided to do the hard work and get going again. We won Davis Cup. Since Rome, I've been probably one of the (inaudible) players since that tournament. Hasn't stopped.

PATRICK RAFTER: Yeah, I am.

PATRICK RAFTER: Still looking for a little bit of a balance, yeah.

PATRICK RAFTER: Davis Cup is a great event, first thing that goes in my schedule.

PATRICK RAFTER: We are pretty patriotic people, play for our country. We like team events. You won't find many Australians not putting it first in their schedule, not representing their country.

PATRICK RAFTER: Rugby league. I remember last year we played Uzbekistan. I was watching the footy, rugby, eating meat pies. Now we have Russia, so it's going to be a bit more.