Pat a fan of Swiss champ
By Leo Schlink
January 9, 2004
PAT Rafter rates Swiss champion Roger Federer technically the best player in the world.
Rejecting suggestions he had retired too early and might have won Wimbledon following the departure of All-England Club nemesis Pete Sampras, Rafter said he'd had his chances.
The Queenslander lost the 2000 Wimbledon final to Sampras after having surgery on his right shoulder.
He was beaten the following year - 9-7 in the fifth set - in an epic final against four-time finalist and sentimental favourite Goran Ivanisevic.
Despite his two close calls at lifting the Wimbledon trophy, Rafter said there was no reason to think he might have usurped Lleyton Hewitt (2002) or Federer ('03) as the All-England kings.
"I just found there were so many other great players out there. You have had to beat so many good players to win a grand slam," Rafter said.
"We've seen the emergence of Roger Federer. He is the greatest, most complete player I have seen. He's going to be awesome.
"Obviously Lleyton winning Wimbledon, too.
"I had that opportunity against Goran (Ivanisevic), anyway, when Pete wasn't even there.
"I've had my opportunities and the ball didn't fall exactly where I needed it to fall.
"Pete was a great player, no doubting that, but in the last few years, he wasn't the same player he was the years before. There were a lot of windows there."
Rafter said he had noticed how much the sport had changed in his brief absence.
"Even over the past two years, everyone's hitting it harder," Rafter said.
"I'm glad I'm not playing any more. This is as far as I go. As long as I'm playing a bit of golf and a bit of tennis, I'm enjoying myself.
"Just walking around the courts here, seeing how hard the guys are hitting the ball.
"I know a lot of the guys are using this type of string called Big Banger, or something like that.
"It's a string that allows them to hit it very, very hard, and the ball sort of drops into the court all of the time.
"It's a string that creates a lot of spin.
"I haven't played these guys, and I'd like to go out there with my (racquet) gut and see if I could play them again, just as a bit of fun to see what the ball does.
"They're just hitting it very hard, and all the guys are great athletes and they all seem to be serving that bit bigger. The game's evolving every year.
"They're trying everything to slow it down, but I think if you serve big, you serve big.
"We've been making this comment for the past 10 years. I guess it's still the same, but it seems different. Maybe I'm just a step slower."
Herald Sun
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