Rafter Named Australian Davis Cup Captain

Written by: Staff on 20th October 2010

Rafter Named Australian Davis Cup Captain |

He couldn’t win it as a player. Now Pat Rafter hopes he can win the Davis Cup as captain of the Australian team. Incredibly, he is only the fifth captain in 60 years, following on from Harry Hopman, Neale Fraser, John Newcombe and John Fitzgerald.

But it’s a big ask, as Australia is not even in the 16-team World Group after recently losing 3-2 to Belgium. Despite 28 titles in the competition, second only to the United States with 32, Australia has not won the competition since defeating Spain in Melbourne in 2003.

Rafter, now 37, will work alongside Coach Tony Roche, and it is hoped that the pair will be able to persuade Lleyton Hewitt to continue his career-long commitment to the competition. That shouldn’t be too difficult, as although Hewitt was forced to sit out the tie against Belgium with injury after winning his opening match he demonstrated his passion for the Davis Cup when after playing in Rome he flew to Australia to take part in its 5-0 victory over Japan before flying straight back to Europe to compete in the World Team Cup.

Rafter was injured and had to sit out Australia’s win over France in Nice in 1999 and he then played in two losing finals, against Spain in 2000 and France in 2001. The tie with France marked his last match as a professional. He defeated Sebastien Grosjean, but then lost the doubles when he was controversially asked to team up with Hewitt against Cedric Pioline and Fabrice Santoro. The Aussies lost in four sets, and France went on to win the decisive last rubber.

Australia’s first outing under Rafter and Roche will come in a first round Asia-Oceania Group I tie with Taiwan to played in Melbourne March 5-7.

Topics: Asia Oceania, Aussies, Cedric Pioline, Coach Tony Roche, Davis Cup, Fabrice Santoro, Harry Hopman, John Fitzgerald, John Newcombe, Last Match, Lleyton Hewitt, Melbourne March, Neale Fraser, Passion, Pat Rafter, Rome, Sebastien Grosjean, Tony Roche, Victory Over Japan, World Group