Pat Rafter

Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player.

Rafter turned professional in 1991.

During the course of his career, he twice won the men's singles title at the US Open and was twice the runner-up at Wimbledon.

He was known for his serve-and-volley style of play.

Then, he surprised many by winning the US Open, defeating Andriy Medvedev, Magnus Norman, Lionel Roux, Andre Agassi, Magnus Larsson, and Michael Chang before beating Greg Rusedski in a four-set final; he was the first non-American to win the title since Stefan Edberg in 1992.

This was his first Grand Slam title, and catapulted him ahead of Chang to finish the year ranked #2 in the world (behind only Pete Sampras).

The unexpected nature of his US Open title led many, including Hall-of-famer and four-time US Open champion John McEnroe to criticise Rafter as a "one-slam wonder".

Rafter won his first tour-level match in 1993, at Wimbledon.

He reached the third round, before losing to Andre Agassi.

He also reached the semifinals in Indianapolis.

He defeated Pete Sampras in the quarterfinals in three tight sets, before losing to Boris Becker in the semifinals.

Rafter finished 1993 with a ranking of 66.

Rafter won his first career singles title in 1994 in Manchester.

His career highlights include consecutive US Open titles in 1997 and 1998, consecutive runner-up appearances at Wimbledon in 2000 and 2001, winning the 1999 Australian Open men's doubles tournament alongside Jonas Björkman, and winning two singles and two doubles ATP Masters titles.

Prior to 1997, this was the only ATP singles title he had won.

Rafter's breakthrough came in 1997.

At that year's French Open, he reached the semifinals, falling in four sets to two time former champion Sergi Bruguera.

He became the first man in the Open Era to win Canada Masters, Cincinnati Masters and the US Open in the same year, which he achieved in 1998; this achievement has been dubbed the American Summer Slam.

Rafter had a particularly strong year in 1998, winning the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters ─ Andre Agassi (1995), Andy Roddick (2003), and Rafael Nadal (2013) are the only other players to have won both of these tournaments in the same year.

Rafter defeated ninth-ranked Richard Krajicek in the Toronto final and second-ranked Pete Sampras in the Cincinnati final.

When asked about the difference between himself and Rafter following their titles, Sampras responded, "10 grand slams".

He added that a tennis player must come back and win a Grand Slam again in order to be considered great.

Entering the U.S. Open as the defending champion, Rafter reached the final by defeating Hicham Arazi, Hernán Gumy, David Nainkin, Goran Ivanišević and Jonas Björkman before besting Sampras in a five-set semifinal.

Rafter then defended his US Open title by defeating fellow Australian Mark Philippoussis in four sets, committing only five unforced errors throughout the match.

Altogether, Rafter won six tournaments in 1998, finishing the year No. 4 in the world.

He reached the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking on 26 July 1999.

Rafter won the Australian Open men's doubles title in 1999 (partnering Jonas Björkman), making him one of few players in the modern era to win both a singles and doubles Grand Slam title during their career (fellow countryman Lleyton Hewitt would later achieve this feat in 2001).

He and Björkman also won a doubles title at the ATP Masters Series event in Canada in 1999.

At the 1999 French Open, Rafter drew future world No. 1 and 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the first round, making him the first-ever opponent of Federer in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.

Rafter defeated him in four sets.

Rafter then reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in 1999, losing in straight sets to Agassi.

This was the first of three consecutive years that the two met in the Wimbledon semifinals.

July 1999 saw Rafter holding the world No. 1 men's singles ranking for one week, making him the shortest-reigning world No. 1 in ATP Tour history.

As the two-time defending US Open champion, Rafter lost in the first round of the tournament, retiring in the fifth set against Cédric Pioline after succumbing to shoulder tendinitis.

Rafter's shoulder injury wound up being serious enough to necessitate surgery.

Due to injury, Rafter was unable to play in the 1999 Davis Cup final won by Australia; however, he won important matches in the earlier rounds to help the team qualify.

To date, only two players have followed this feat: Andy Roddick in 2003, and Rafael Nadal in 2013.

Rafter is the third man in the Open Era to reach semifinals or better of every Grand Slam tournament in both singles and doubles, after Rod Laver and Stefan Edberg, and remains the last man to date to accomplish this.

Rafter is also the only player to remain undefeated against Roger Federer with at least three meetings, though the meetings took place early in Federer's career.

He is also the only player with a winning record over the Swiss on all the three main surfaces: hard, clay and grass.