Does Rafter deserve favouritism?

Welcome back to Suite101's edition of Men's Tennis. I hope you all had a happy and safe holiday. This edition will be focussing on Pat Rafter's chances at Melbourne Park.

With Pete Sampras' shock withdrawal from the Australian Open, world number four Pat Rafter is now considered by many as the favourite for the title.

This favouritism would seem to be fair enough, given his superb run during the US summer last year. Rafter won 4 tournaments on hard-court, including his second consecutive US Open title. But Rafter underperformed during the indoor season which followed, and was forced to end his season early when injured. He also has not had a good start to the summer, with a 2nd-round loss in Adelaide to Czech Slava Dosedel. He followed this up with a straight sets defeat to Aussie teenager Lleyton Hewitt. These losses could easily be written off as being due to a lack of match practise. But it also begs the question of whether Rafter is coping with the pressure of favouritism at the Australian Open. Confidence is an important thing, especially to Rafter. Mid last year Rafter confessed that he rode a wave of confidence, and tended to get down on himself when he lost.

Rafter's record at Melbourne Park is not good, especially considering how well he has played on the US hard-courts in the past. He has only advanced to the fourth round on one occasion, and his next best effort has been two losses in the third round.

Although the Australian Open is played on hard-courts, they are reputed to be slower than those at Flushing Meadows. The balls used are also heavier, making it more difficult for a player with an attacking style to be effective. For these reasons, Rafter's favouritism does not seem to be well founded.

Tennis News

Rainer Schuttler of Germany had a shock win in the Quatar Open earlier this month. He beat the top seed Tim Henman in the final by 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 for his first career title. In Adelaide Lleyton Hewitt narrowly failed to defend his title, falling in the final to Thomas Enqvist by 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Marcelo Rios' bid to regain the world number 1 spot has taken a blow, with the Chilean retiring from the Auckland tournament with an injury. Rios has many points to defend this Australian summer, including a runner up place at Melbourne Park. If he is unable to play, his ranking could drop dramatically.

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