Pat Rafter was back serving and volleying again in Melbourne on Friday, 25 years after he claimed the Australian Open doubles championship with his great mate Jonas Bjorkman.
The former world No.1, who now sports flecks of grey in his beard, ironed out some sore spots on the foam roller before jumping onto the court situated next to the Yarra River.
For those who saw the Queenslander charge his way to successive US Open titles during his prime in the late 1990s, there were a lot of similarities to the Rafter of old.
A good serve stretched his rivals. The hands were crisp. His smash is powerful. And while the explosiveness in his movement has diminished a tad, his athleticism remains superb.
But there was a difference to the stage and the size of his racquet. Rather than Rafter weaving his magic at Melbourne Park, he was powering away on a Padel court.
Now 51, the dual-Wimbledon finalist has taken to a sport that has long been popular in parts of South America and Europe and is now establishing itself in the English-speaking world.
Played in an enclosed court with predominantly glass walls, Padel uses the tennis scoring system and, simplified, is a hybrid between the sport Rafter starred in and squash.
It is not to be confused with Pickleball, which is predominantly a US-based game. The intricacies and strategy are more detailed and, importantly, it is less troubling on the ears.
Rafter, who played in the Australian Padel Open last week and was competing in the Melbourne Padel Open at the Game4Padel complex in the Docklands, is a convert.
The Queenslander was introduced to the sport by Matt Barrelle, his next door neighbour in Byron Bay, and former Hawthorn best-and-fairest Brad Sewell and fell for the sport.
“Sewelly was playing a lot and he just told me to come and play and eventually I did and I quite enjoyed it,” Rafter told foxsports.com.au
“It took me a while to get the hang of it and I was a bit silly on the court in terms of my shot selection and things, because you think it is tennis and it is actually not, because there is a lot of squash about it as well.
“Just in the last year I really got into it and I am at the stage now where I am actually playing a couple of tournaments and realising … there are things I really need to work on.
“But I really enjoy it because there is so much to learn about it and that part of it was captivating to me.”
At the highest level, the skill, agility and reflexes of those who compete on the professional tours are astounding.
High-end tennis players can get to a competitive level fairly quickly, particularly those with good skills in doubles.
At the Seniors World Championships in Las Vegas in 2023, former world No. 1 doubles player Jared Palmer and ex-pros Marcos Daniel and Jens Knippschild were among those competing, along with Kym Clijsters younger sister Elke.
Fox Cricket experts Michael Vaughan, who is involved in the Padel business in England, Mike Hussey, Adam Gilchrist and Mark Howard are also keen players of the sport.
It can be counterintuitive and there is a devil in the details. Learning how to play off the walls is only one of the challenges of playing a sport in which players can smash into the glass.
Less can be more when it comes to smashes, because using too much power can help set the point up for opponents at the other end given the ball rebounds back into the court.
Rafter loved the strategy and the work and the mateship required to excel as a professional.
As superbly as he performed when winning his US Opens and reaching finals at Wimbledon, it should not be forgotten that he figured out a way to reach the semi-finals on clay at Roland Garros, where he took a set off eventual champion Sergi Bruguera.
Problem solving was a factor in his success and he loves the challenges associated with Padel. And having good hands at the net is also a big plus in his new pursuit.
“There is that crossover and I would like to think that I would find it a bit easier than maybe a Juan Carlos Ferrero, who played as a baseliner and has played a fair bit of Padel,” he said.
“I’m sure he would still kick my arse, but my transition is going to be easier because it is the way I play tennis. It is the grip I use, the shots that I play.”
At the lower level, Padel offers participants arguably an easier way into the sport than tennis given it is played on a smaller court with smaller racquets.
Courts are popping up from Brisbane to Perth, and along the Hume Highway from Melbourne to Thurgoona and into Sydney, as well as Barrelle’s beauty in Byron Bay.
Rafter, who grew up in Mt Isa, played some squash on the tour with former Australian doubles player and coach Dave McPherson and also Scott Draper, who was very good.
After retiring from tennis, in part due to some shoulder issues, he played A-grade pennant in Sydney for a period to keep fit and scratch the competitive itch.
“I played OK. But the next level is a different thing. And Padel has more of an interest for me, because I actually found squash pretty hard physically and I didn’t need that at my age,” he said.
“The shoulder, I was always a bit protective of it, but probably now less so. That is the great thing about Padel. You don’t have to serve overarm, but there is a lot of smashing. But a lot of your smashing is done quite softly.”
Not surprisingly, given his newly found fascination with Padel, Rafter was recently appointed the nation’s Padel Ambassador by Tennis Australia and is revelling in the role.
“Someone was talking about it the other day, another mate who was involved with tennis, and I was saying it was so much easier because you are not dealing with parents and the professionalism and the craziness that can go with all that and the money,” he said.
“You’re dealing with a whole lot of people who are just having a good time.”
A QUARTER CENTURY ON FROM A PRIZED AUSSIE OPEN SUCCESS
Rafter competed admirably against giants of the sport including Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, with his record on the US hard courts in particular phenomenal.
But he is proud of his doubles success alongside Bjorkman who, for the record, is an exceptionally good Padel player in Sweden, at the Australian Open in 1999.
The duo edged Indian pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in five sets and headed to the casino with their family, coaches and friends afterwards for a decent celebration.
The triumph leaves Rafter as one of the few men in the modern era to boast grand slam titles in singles and doubles.
“Absolutely (I’m proud) because in doubles, I played a lot of it, and Jonas is a good mate of mine, and we played a lot together and really enjoy each other’s company,” he said.
“The actual doubles for me, with Jonas, was a lot of fun. And it was an important part of my career.
“It was always a second tier thing for me, but it was always fun and I enjoyed it and it was a really important part of my development as a singles player.”
The dual-grand slam champion is among those who extol the importance of playing doubles, particularly in the infancy of a career.
His great mate Ash Barty is another.
The 2022 Australian Open champion was a regular grand slam doubles finalist as a teenager and said she learnt a lot by hanging around until the last days of a major.
After winning the 2018 US Open doubles title with Victoria Azarenka, she secured a Roland Garros singles title the following year and never looked back in her remarkable career.
But it is relatively rare now for the world’s best men to play both singles and doubles now, with the Indian Wells Masters in March among the few exceptions on the tour.
Rafter can understand the reasons why, but believes there is much to be gained by playing the discipline.
“I think it is really important for the development of players. The net play, the returning, the pressure situations. And there is less training that you don’t need to do,” he said.
“You can play tennis. You can play matches. And you learn a lot at a skill level with half-volleys and volleys, things they might not work on. Doubles gives you confidence.
“When you are struggling in singles, you can get a lot of confidence playing matches and winning and playing tight points without the same pressure as singles.
“But it is still close to it. It is a lot better than training.”
THE LINGERING PAIN
In the documentary Australias’ Open, which screened on the ABC last week, former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash spoke about the sting he feels arriving at Melbourne Park.
The former world No.4 lost back-to-back Australian Open finals to Stefan Edberg at Kooyong and then Mats Wilander in the first major played at Melbourne Park in 1988.
Every time he walks into the venue, he feels regret at what he came so close to achieving.
Rafter can empathise, for he feels the same strong tinge of pain walking into Wimbledon.
He played superbly in 2000 and 2001 at the All England Lawn Tennis Club but was edged in finals by Sampras and then Goran Ivanisevic in a historic Monday decider.
The pain is less strong at Melbourne Park, where his best result was a loss to Agassi in an epic five set semi-final in 2001.
“When you are in the final, it is close. You can taste it. And Cashy obviously lost two five setters as well,” he said.
“He would have the same thing that I have at Wimbledon, I would say so.”
ENTER THE DEMON
Cash came so close in Melbourne. Rafter got pretty close as well. And Lleyton Hewitt was an Australian Open finalist in 2005 when beaten by a red-hot Marat Safin in the final.
But their near-misses at Melbourne Park means that the drought for local winners in the men’s championships now dates back to Mark Edmondson’s success in 1976.
It has been nearly 50 bloody years!
Alex de Minaur, who broke into the Top 10 last week after a string of good results including a triumph over 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in the United Cup, is the best local hope.
Rafter likes what he has seen of the Sydneysider and believes the time will come when the 24-year-old makes a significant splash in a major, be it this fortnight or in the next few years.
“I think last year he had a bit of a realisation that sitting at 20 in the world is not where he wants to be and he was starting to question what he had to do to be a better player,” he said.
“He is a kid who really wants to be the best player that he can and I love that about him. And he prepares so well, which I also love. I like his progression. I like the way he goes about his business, Alex.
“I’ve just said to him, when I have spoken to him about what his next step is, ‘Do you tick off all those boxes for preparing as well as you can and being the best player you can be?’.
“He is trying to look for that next step. I don’t know what that secret step is.
“But he is trying to get the most out of his game and as long as he keeps doing what he is doing, he will have a result. That is just the law of physics and averages. He gives himself an opportunity all the time.”
Rafter has no doubt that the step taken last week by de Minaur, who is the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt to sit in the Top 10, is an important milestone.
“Now he is in the Top 10. That is one less thing he has to achieve. After that he wants to win a grand slam. And he wants to be number one,” he said.
“But it is one thing at a time. For me, I would say, the more important thing would be to win a grand slam. He is someone who really wants to achieve at the highest level.
“And my message to him would be, ‘Just be the best that you can be’ and let the results take care of themselves. And I think he is doing that.
“He does not have the serve of a Kyrgios. But he has got the mentality of a Lleyton Hewitt, which is awesome.”
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