Patrick Rafter (AUS)

Gday mate" said Pat Rafter when I met him at a Tennis open day in Tunbridge Wells about 4 years ago.
I thought to myself,"typical Aussie.Corny lines".
It was the opening of a new Tennis Centre of which my Father in Law is the manager and I got to hit a couple of balls over the net to him.
I felt like a superstar for 30 seconds!

But what suprised me about the guy was how nice and genuine he was.
I can see why so many people got behind him at Wimbledon.
He really is as nice as he seems on the TV. Signing autographs, posing for pics with people and cracking gags with his dry humour.

But he is very very tall! He must be about 6 foot 5!
He towered above me and His serve was just shooting past people. Im sure he was not even hitting it that hard either!

What is sad is that he is retiring.

Im sure he has not been around that long. Sampras, Agassi and others have been around longer and still here.

If you think back over the years, you will remember his long hair and his massive serve.
It must be one of the fastest in the game. They used to say if you can break his serve you can win the match. He didnt have the gameplay to match his serve.
That is not true anymore. He has developed into a great player.
More than a serving machine.

His new look with his silver patch on his head shows age is creeping up on him.

A shame that he did not win Wimbledon this year.
I count myself as an adopted Aussie fan when Pat is on the court.

I hope its not the last time we see him over here playing.