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Rafter will be missed
LONDON -- You will find few people more down to earth on the tennis circuit than Patrick Rafter. He puts every ounce of heart and energy into his matches and always finds time for a "how yer doin' mate" afterwards, win or lose. What you see is what you get from the sentimental favorite for Wimbledon victory. There's nothing fake about him. He's honest enough to admit that he "choked" in last year's final against Pete Sampras, when he found himself just three points away from a two sets to love lead. I can think of only a handful of players who might ever admit to gagging in a Wimbledon final. So many others would dress up their sudden decline in frilly skirts and fancy bows in the hope of disguising the fact they blew it. Rafter's not one of them. Never has been. Never will be.
Then there's the athletic endeavor on court; a liberal dose of handsome charm to make women across the globe swoon; a couple of U.S. Open titles for good measure; a fierce patriotism which made him hurt more about a Davis Cup final defeat for Australia late last year than a personal loss in the final here. You can see why the men's tennis tour is rueing the day Rafter packs up his rackets for the final time. And that time will come at the end of the year, maybe February 2002 at the very latest. He'll only play into next year if Australia is in Davis Cup contention at the end of 2001, which will take him home in competitive mode. Then, he figures, he might as well continue on to play one last Australian Open.
Rafter is taking a tennis sabbatical and he's not for turning. He says there are other things in life he wants to explore. If he misses the sport enormously he might return, but I sense he doubts that'll be the case. Rafter's not past it. He won't turn 29 until December. But he has been a professional player for a decade, often enduring an out-of-a-suitcase existence on a tour which offers scant few lengthy breaks and little playing time in his land of Oz. The wear and tear resulted in shoulder surgery late in 1999. The aches and pains can plague him still. He also discovered after this year's epic semifinal defeat by Andre Agassi at the Australian Open, when he was cramping badly in the fifth set, that he sweats twice as much as the ordinary athlete. That cramps his all-action style. Rafter, from a family of nine brothers and sisters, now has the option of settling down with girlfriend Lara Feltham and starting a family of his own, should he wish. He wouldn't have to be a globetrotting husband or father. Maybe the sleepless nights of screaming babies might send him rushing back to tennis. We can only hope. For now, we have to hope for something more reasonable, like him reaching the latter stages of another Wimbledon and providing us with the thrills he delivered against Agassi and Sampras in the final four last year. Ultimate victory here at this year's Wimbledon? What a way to go. Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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