- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Tennis greats Pat Rafter and Tony Roche have the onerous task of dragging the Australian Davis Cup team out of the international wilderness.
Rafter was on Wednesday elevated to one of the highest positions in Australian sport, captain of the Cup team.
The former world No.1, two-time US Open champion, dual Wimbledon runner-up and Australian of the Year will form a dream pairing with Roche, who has been re-appointed coach of the team.
Rafter replaces John Fitzgerald and becomes only the fifth man in the past 60 years to captain Australia’s Cup team.
The hugely popular 37-year-old follows on from Fitzgerald (2001-2010), John Newcombe (1995-2000), Neale Fraser (1970-1994) and the legendary Harry Hopman (1950-69).
Rafter’s immediate task is guiding Australia back into the elite 16-nation World Group for the first time since 2007.
With Cup warrior Lleyton Hewitt sidelined from the reverse singles, Australia narrowly missed promotion to the World Group last month when they lost a playoff 3-2 to Belgium in Cairns.
Not only does Fitzgerald fully support Rafter’s appointment, the 49-year-old was instrumental in luring him back into the fold.
Fitzgerald, who has been weighing up his future for some time, hoped Rafter’s recruitment would help reinvigorate Australian tennis.
“We need him, the game needs him and you couldn’t get a better guy to lead Australia. We’re all just delighted,” Fitzgerald told AAP.
“It took him a while to make up his mind, but it’s win-win for everybody.
“It’s a win for me because I could leave when I wanted to. I feel relaxed and absolutely convinced that this was my time.
“It’s a win for Tennis Australia and it’s a win, in particular, for our sport.”
Rafter, who coached Australia’s Junior Davis Cup team last year, said he was up for the challenge.
“I am really looking forward to working with the team and helping lift Australian men’s tennis on the world stage,” he said.
“My standards and expectations are extremely high. This is a great opportunity to be part of something that means a lot to me.”
Hewitt’s Davis Cup future had been up in the air following Australia’s latest disappointment, but it’s now hoped the fresh appointments will extend his career in the century-old teams’ event.
“Pat and I get along great and have shared some special moments at the highest level of Davis Cup and I look forward to working with him,” Australia’s most successful Cup player said.
“And Rochey, I have always said his experience is second to none and he will be a fantastic addition again to the team.”
Australia have won 28 Davis Cup trophies, second only to the USA’s 32, but a failure to get his hands on the trophy remains one of Rafter’s greatest disappointments.
The Queenslander frustratingly had to sit out Australia’s 1999 final triumph over France in Nice with a shoulder injury, having helped the team reach the decider.
He then featured in Australia’s losing finals against Spain in Barcelona in 2000 and against France in Melbourne in 2001.
Sadly, Rafter’s last professional match – before he formalised his retirement a year later – was his controversial involvement in the infamous 2001 Cup final loss to France.
After beating Sebastien Grosjean on day one to level the tie at 1-1, first-year captain Fitzgerald opted to pit Rafter and Hewitt into battle against Cedric Pioline and Fabrice Santoro – rather than play doubles specialists Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs.
But, again hampered by injury, Rafter and Hewitt lost in four sets – before a tearful Arthurs succumbed to Nicolas Escude in the deciding singles rubber the following day in front of his home-city crowd.
During his 10-year captaincy, Fitzgerald led Australia to two finals, including 2003 glory over Spain in Melbourne.
Woodbridge joined the Australian team as coach in July last year, before being replaced on Wednesday by Roche, Rafter’s long-time personal coach who returns for a second stint following his successful pairing with Newcombe in the late 1990s.
Australia will begin the long journey back to the World Group with a first-round Asia-Oceania Group I tie against Taiwan in Melbourne from March 5-7.
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.