Rafter clinches no. 1

After spending much of the past 18 months as the world number 2, Pat Rafter has finally clinched the world number 1 spot in men's tennis. He has become the 18th player to rank number 1 since the inception of world rankings in 1973. The last Australian to rank so highly was John Newcombe a quarter of a century ago. The question is now whether or not he has the mental toughness to retain this lofty position.

Pat Rafter first came to the attention of the tennis world in 1993, when he scored upset wins over Pete Sampras and Wayne Ferreira. He followed this up in 1994 with a 4th round effort at the French Open, and his first career title in Manchester on grass. 1995 was a year of soul-searching, and with poor results it appeared the Australian wasn't coping with the pressure and expectation which come with success. But in 1996 Rafter started to show improvement with some solid results. Possibly being left out of the Australian Olympic team had taken the pressure off. 1997 though was the year which made Pat Rafter's career. After reaching consecutive finals, he hit top form at the US Open and claimed his first ever grand slam title. This was made even more surprising by the fact that it was only Rafter's second career title! 1998 was a year of consolidation. After a slow start, the Aussie ended up with some 6 titles. He had a sensational run during the US summer, with 4 titles including 2 Super-Nine events. This culminated with the successful defence of his US Open title.

1999 has followed a similar pattern. After an indifferent start, Rafter surprised many to reach the Italian Open final on clay. He won a title on grass at Rosmalen, and had a career-best result at Wimbledon recently; reaching the semi-finals.

It was actually a statistical quirk which has given Rafter the world number 1 ranking this week. It is basically a result of the Los Angeles tournament being played at a different date this year, meaning that last week's world number 1 Andre Agassi lost a number of points gained last year which he wasn't able to defend.

However the ranking is a fitting reward for Rafter, who just last week helped the Australian Davis Cup team to a comfortable 4-1 win over the United States; winning both of his singles rubbers.

It must be mentioned that in recent times the number 1 ranking has seemed to have been something of a poisoned chalice. Marcelo Rios achieved in 1998, but still has yet to have won a grand slam. Yevgeney Kafelnikov gained the top spot on the strength of his Australian Open win this year. However his form has dropped off dramatically since. Carlos Moya also gained the number 1 ranking this year, but has failed to hold it for any

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