Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is a popular Australian professional tennis player. He was born in Queensland and has a large family with many brothers and sisters. Currently he lives in Bermuda.
Rafter won the US Open in 1997 and 1998 and reached the finals of Wimbledon in 2000 and 2001. He is said to regret his loss to Pete Sampras in the Wimbledon Singles Final in 2000 most of all—Rafter led early in the match and looked set to become the first Australian since Pat Cash to win Wimbledon. But, he 'choked' part way through the second set, and was never able to get back into the match after that point.
He also won the Australian Open Doubles title in 1999.
Rafter was booed by the American crowd at the US Open in 1999 when he had to retire during his first round match due to injury. He also reached Davis Cup finals in 2000 (Lost to Spain) and 2001 (Lost to France). Ironically, he was unable to play in the Davis Cup Final in 1999, when Australia did win the cup.
Rafter retired in late 2002. He has recently played some competitive doubles matches, but has no plans to return from retirement.
On April 24, 2004, he married his longtime girlfriend Lara Feltham (with whom he has a son) at a resort in Fiji.
Grand Slam titles (2)
1997 U.S. Open Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
1998 U.S. Open Mark Philippoussis 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
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