Rafter replaces Fitzgerald as captain of Australia’s Davis Cup team
On Wednesday, the Australian Davis Cup team changed captaincy, with the reins of control being transferred from John Fitzgerald, who captained the team for 10 years, to two-time back to back US Open tournament champion, Pat Rafter. Rafter retired from pro
tennis in the year 2001 after accumulating 11 career singles titles. He reached Wimbledon finals in both 2000 and 2001. Also formerly ranked World Number 1, Rafter is the fifth man to lead the Australian Davis Cup into competition in sixty years. Previous
long term captains were John Fitzgerald, John Newcombe, Neale Fraser and Harry Hopman.
Rafter will be teaming up with Tony Roche, who has been selected as the coach of the Australian team. Roche himself coached Rafter for a long period of time during his career, and has worked as a private coach with Grand Slam champions Roger Federer, Ivan
Lendl, Rafter himself and Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt. This is the second time that Tony Roche will be holding the position of coach to the Davis Cup team – he was also appointed to this office from 1994 to 2000. Todd Woodbridge, Australia’s head
of men’s tennis, is also enthusiastic about this partnership, saying, “This is something of a dream-team combination.”
Rafter seems extremely enthusiastic about his new position as the captain, saying, “I am really looking forward to working with the team and helping lift Australian men's tennis on the world stage. We’ve got a lot of young players that have a great opportunity
to play for Australia. My standards and expectations are extremely high. This is a great opportunity to be part of something that means a lot to me.” He also added that he was eager to begin work, saying, “We've got a lot of young players that have a great
opportunity to play for Australia.”
This position may be all the more important to Rafter because he himself missed out on winning the Davis Cup with his team in his glory days. This remains a blotch on his otherwise illustrious career; the serve-volleying player was forced to drop out of
the 1999 Davis Cup team during the final with a shoulder injury, while the team raged into a victory against France in Nice, defeating them to win the Cup. Rafter has competed with his country in two losing finals, one with Spain in Barcelona in the year 2000
and a second one at Melbourne with France in 2001.
The Australian team holds a record of 28 Davis Cup trophies; this is a number beaten only by the United States of America, with 32 trophies. However, they have been unable to win the Cup since 2003. The first major challenge which will be thrown into the
37 year old captain’s charge is the task of guiding his country back into the exclusive World Group for the Davis Cup; if he succeeds, this will be the first time since 2007 that the team makes it to the elite World Group.
Australia’s most successful Davis Cup player, Lleyton Hewitt, rejoiced upon Rafter’s appointment, saying, “at 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. And Roche,
I have always said his experience is second to none and he will be a fantastic addition again to the team."
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