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Celebrating 20 years since Pat Rafter's first US Open win

Roar Guru
22nd August, 2017
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The US Open gets underway next week and marks the 20th anniversary of the first of Pat Rafter’s two grand slam victories at Flushing Meadows.

Rafter was 24 years old and seeded 13th when he emerged as the surprise 1997 winner.

The tournament proved a graveyard for the top seeds, with only Rafter, number two seed Michael Chang, 10th seed Marcelo Rios and 15th seed Petr Korda making it past the fourth round.

Top seed Pete Sampras was knocked out by Korda in the fourth round, while Goran Ivanisevic, Thomas Muster and Carlos Moya – all rated in the top eight – were bundled out in the first round.

Rafter made steady progress, not losing a set in the first three rounds. His big challenge came in the fourth round, where he drew the unseeded former world number one Andre Agassi.

Agassi had a disrupted 1997, due to injury and off-court issues. Rafter beat him in four sets.

The Aussie followed that with a straight sets quarter-final victory over unseeded Swede Magnus Larsson, setting up a semi-final showdown with Chang.

Rafter again dominated, beating the American in straight sets, qualifying for his first grand slam singles final, against the unseeded Greg Rusedski.

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He beat Rusedski 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to claim a memorable victory. The win catapulted him to number two in the world rankings by the end of the year.

In 1998, he disproved John McEnroe’s claim that he would be a “one-slam wonder” by successfully defending his title, as the third seed, beating his unseeded compatriot Mark Philippoussis in four sets in the final.

Rafter briefly claimed the world number one ranking in 1999 and finished his career having achieved two US Open titles, a Davis Cup victory, and two Wimbledon finals appearances. He also reached the semi-finals at both the Australian and French Opens.

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