Notice Rafter's spin on his serve. Incredibly difficult to produce, but if he could do it consistently, it was so difficult for anyone to anticipate what kind of spin he would hit, and how it would bounce off the court. Imagine facing that, and watching the ball bounce in a different direction every time at 110+ MPH. Pretty incredible.
+Lord Crazaak Lendl the much better player career wise though. Two lost Wimbledon finals with the same coach is the closest they have in common. Lendl far ahead everywhere else.
Well, could have would have. The crowd atmosphere arguably gave rafter momentum in set 4, but ivanisevic was arguably better on Wimbledon grass than pat anyway. I do think rafter should have won Australia though that year.
I'm just saying that Rafter got very close to winning Wimbledon, that's all. I think he had Ivanisevic at 0-30 when Goran was serving to stay in the match. The match could have gone either way. Goran lead for the majority of the match. It's a shame one player had to lose but Rafter still has two Slams to his name. Rafter cramped against Andre at the Aussie in 2001 which ruined his chances in the semi there.
Just checked lendls last season and it was really poor by his lofty standards. He clearly was slower and less fit, finishing in him retiring mid match at the us open. Still rafter played well here and his groundstrokes looked better on this surface than clay for example.
At this point Lendl was near the end of his career he was playing with a midsize Mizuno racket.. all the years he played with pretty much a standard size packet which would be Adidas Mizuno copied that model for him then they made him a standard size racket with a big head and at the end of his career he used a midsize
That is the same question i was going to ask. I never saw him playing with that particular model; it is huge compared to the Adidas he used to play in the 80s. Lendl was my idol; loved his game and his professional attitude.
Ok. I just think rafter was somewhat unlucky not to do well in Australia with its rebound ace courts. At Wimbledon he was never quite at his best. Lendl had a better overall record with semis or better, whilst rafter often lost early.
Who had a bettee career, Rafter or Chang? I say Chang because he went deep into tournaments, week in week out. Rafter reached great heights but wasn't consisteny day in day out due to his kamikaze style of play.
+Alan Chong Overall career, Chang got the most out of his abilities I would say. He did get a nasty injury that made him a journey man for the last few years, a bit like Hewitt. Rafter was dangerous but sometimes not even on ATP level, despite playing a match like the one here. He had injuries and did need to drop down to challenger level. But ultimately I do rate 2 USOs and the no1 slot as better achievements, and do think Rafter will be remembered longer. Both fine role models, that's for sure.
Martin Hudecek Interesting that Chang came out on top in the H2H. But the most important match was the US Open Semi in 1997. Chang's best chance to nap the US Open! Rafter played unreal to take the tournament. Chang would have been so disappointed. Sampras and Agassi out of the way. He is the remaining highest seed, and he blew the chance.Rafter's confidence skyrocketed after that tournament victory.
