2/19/2023 0 Comments Patrick rafter![]() Whether Pat was quite as proud of the other award he received in 1997 I’m not so sure. That same year Pat was also named ATP’s Most Improved Player and he was also awarded the Diploma of Honour by the International Committee for Fair Play, an organisation in whose foundation Jean Borotra had played a leading part. In 1997, the year of his first US Open title, Pat received the first of four ATP Sportsmanship Awards - named after a man Pat himself had always admired, Sweden’s Stefan Edberg. Over the years there has been a host of international awards. Nevertheless his chivalrous attitude on court won the hearts of tennis fans everywhere - we all remember his “Sorry Mate!” whenever the ball toss on serve went awry - and we all admired the generous award of a point to an opponent in Adelaide in 1997, a gesture that cost him the match. ![]() Despite valiant service for his country in the Davis Cup, in which his 21 wins in 18 ties helped Australia to reach the final on three occasions, illness and injury denied Pat the thrill of ever being on the winning team. The two US Opens he won in the 1990s and the two Wimbledon finals he graced at the start of the next decade were the peaks of a ten year career as a professional that brought him 11 singles and 10 doubles titles altogether, plus a world No. Such a man is Pat Rafter who will be remembered as one of the world’s great serve-and-volley experts, almost the last of a dying breed. The International Club’s Jean Borotra Sportsmanship award is presented from time to time to an outstanding individual whose contribution to our sport transcends the mere collection of titles.
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