Pat Rafter takes over as Australia’s Davis Cup captain
Former world No. 1 Pat Rafter has been named Australia’s new Davis Cup captain, replacing John Fitzgerald in the role.
Fitzgerald led Australia to two finals, including a 3-1 victory over Spain at Melbourne Park in 2003, during his 10 years as Davis Cup captain but after a 21-year association with the teams competition as either a player or captain, the 49-year-old has decided to call it a day.
“Davis Cup's been my life, in so many ways. Tennis was my first love and I was fortunate enough to play Davis Cup for Australia for 11 years and to be in this role as Davis Cup captain for 10,” Fitzgerald told a press conference in Canberra.
“I don't leave it with any regrets ... and the time is right, it's absolutely right, Pat's ready to go, he's the right person for the job now and I wish him well.”
For dual US Open champion Rafter, it’s a return to the Davis Cup fold after playing his final tie in the 2001 final – in Fitzgerald’s first year at the helm – where Australia was defeated 3-2 by France in Melbourne.
Rafter also played for Australia in their Davis Cup winning year in 1999, contesting their first two ties against Zimbabwe and the USA but missing their semi-final victory over Russia and their 3-2 win against France in the final in Nice.
That was an era when Australia had the doubles talents of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde at their disposal and along with Rafter had the likes of Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis to call upon in the singles.
The team Rafter inherits for 2011 is one where Hewitt remains a stalwart but his support cast are lacking in star quality.
It’s a team that hasn’t played in the Davis Cup World Group since the first round in 2007, and one which with Hewitt injured for the final day’s singles rubbers of their World Group Play-off against Belgium this year were unable to build a 2-1 lead into victory; their loss consigning Australia to another year in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group One.
Rafter will be joined in the Davis Cup off-court team by Tony Roche, who returns to the team as coach, but their task with an aging Hewitt still Australia’s best player, a 17-year-old Bernard Tomic (who made his Davis Cup debut against Chinese Taipei this year) yet to develop into the player he’s long been predicted to become and a group of workman-like players in between is a much tougher one than that Fitzgerald inherited from John Newcombe a decade ago.
So, the 37-year-old Rafter returns to Australia’s Davis Cup team without a title to his name in the competition, and it’s hard to see that changing any time soon.
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