Seven years since he retired from the ATP circuit, Pat Rafter is back on court playing competitive singles tennis at the BlackRock Tour of Champions event in Graz, Austria this week. He answered your questions
We put the best of your questions to Pat in between matches at the sTennis Masters in Graz.
What motivated you to come back and play tennis against some of the best in your era (on the BlackRock Tour of Champions)?
- Gerald
You always want to know if you still can play tennis well enough. That is why I decided to come back and have a game. There is a good group of guys playing [on the BlackRock Tour of Champions]. I’m very lucky to play with some good friends as well. So it’s to find out if I can still compete with these guys and so far it has been ok!
Where did you watch the Wimbledon Men's Final and what did you think of it?
- Stuart Vallance
I’ve been in France for a couple of months and I watched all the lead up for it. But unfortunately I had to travel on the day of the final. When I got to my destination they had no TV showing it so unfortunately I didn’t see it. But a friend of mine was texting me every f three or four games giving me an update on the match and the rain and so on. It would have been a great match to watch and it’s a shame I didn’t watch it.
Do you feel hard done by that Nadal has won Wimbledon on a hard, high bouncing court playing with a western forehand with no net play while you played the perfect grass court game and never won?
- Chris H, London, UK
No, I certainly don’t feel hard done by. He (Nadal) is an amazing player. I just spoke to some of the players here [at the s Tennis Masters in Graz] and Goran said it’s incredible how slow the grass is now. He spoke to Federer about it and told me that’s why Federer doesn’t serve and volley, it’s just too slow. I think Wimbledon needs to change its grass and make it quicker because to me, watching grass court tennis from the baseline is not how it should be played on grass. It’s fine for clay but not for grass. I think they should make it quicker.
Do you think that a traditional serve and volley player can be successful and win Grand Slams today, just as you did in the past?
- Eoin Young
I’d like to say yes but because I’m not playing on the tour anymore it’s probably hard for me to give an accurate appraisal on that. I think there is definitely room for serve and volleyers to play because you can mix it up. You don’t see a lot of players coming to the net anymore so I think there is room for it. It’s has to be executed very well though because the rackets and the strings are very powerful, which makes it very hard to come to the net at the moment.
Would you change your U.S. titles for one Wimbledon or one Australian championship or a Davis Cup title for Australia?.
- Gerald Lopez
Oh, what a tough decision… I guess it’s an unrealistic question by the way since it will never happen…If someone, at the beginning of my career, would have said you’d win one of each or a couple at the same, I’d probably take one of each.
Have you ever thought of becoming the captain of the Austalian Davis Cup team ?
- Julien Nény, 16 years old, Angers, France.
Oh no, not now. It requires a lot of travelling and a lot of time dedicated to it. I have a young family and that is something I want to be around for so at this stage it won’t be for a while.
What was the best professional match you have ever played?
- Roland
My semifinal match against Michael Chang at the US Open in 1997 was pretty flawless. I went into the match not knowing whether I would win or not but I won pretty comfortably. I think that was probably my best match for flawless tennis.
Who is the best serve and volley player on the ATP Tour in 2008 and which current player do you think is most like you?
- Guillaume Baraise
No one [on the current circuit] really plays like I do! But I can name three players here in Graz on the BlackRock Tour of Champions who are all playing a bit similar (Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Stich and Pat). It was a lot more common to play more serve and volley earlier, like Stefan Edberg or Pat Cash. Some players do serve and volley but they are not traditional serve and volleyers in my book. Guys like Ancic come in a little bit, he is that sort of player. He is a lot better in a lot of areas than I am but probably doesn’t play the net game as well quite yet.
What is the best piece of advice you would give to a junior tennis player, hoping to become a professional?
(Michael Stich walks into the room saying: ‘Sex, Drugs, & Rock ‘n’ Roll!’)
There we go, Michael Stich just came up with some crackers right there… It might be ok for a while… I know Michael Stich tried that and he won Wimbledon…
Best advice? Well, I think you have to learn to be very patient and learn how to play on clay. I think it’s a very good grounding for players. Over in Europe they have very good clay court tennis and that makes you very tough. That’s the problem back in Australia, we don’t have that. I also think it’s important not to stay in junior tennis when you are 17 or 18, so get involved in men’s tennis as quick as you can because it’s a very different game.
What is more important in tennis – natural talent or mental toughness?
- Martin I. Jones, Edmonton, Canada
You need a certain amount of talent to get to a certain level. But natural talent is not going to make you win every match. You still have to be mentally tough. You definitely need both of them. If you have got no talent you are obviously not going to be up there, you need to know how to hit a ball over the net and know what you are doing. And that comes with hard work as well. Once you are on the tour you need to develop mental toughness and that is one thing that Roger Federer did. He was not very mentally tough at all for the first three years he was on tour but he learned to be tough and he became a very good player
