With the racquet-to-ball clamor of a full-throttle Casper Ruud practice session echoing throughout San Francisco’s Chase Center, the gathered media got their first glimpse of new Team World Vice Captain Patrick Rafter on Monday, alongside Laver Cup CEO Steve Zacks, and Golden State Warriors President and COO Brandon Schneider.
“One of the reasons why the players love to play the Laver Cup is because they get to be mentored by these legendary captains,” said Zacks, a nod to the Aussie Rafter, whose graceful serve-and-volley game earned him back-to-back US Open titles in 1997 and 1998, and the world No. 1 ranking in 1999.
“Laver Cup is a place that welcomes a lot of the greats to come back, to have new roles,” Zacks added. “We’ve got players from the past, current stars, and the young generation all coming together.”
Rafter, 52, was hand-picked in January by fellow International Tennis Hall of Famer and newly installed Team World Captain Andre Agassi, once a fierce rival. The two faced each other on 15 occasions on the men’s tour between 1993 and 2001, nearly half of those encounters coming on the Grand Slam stage. (Agassi took the head-to-head, 10-5.)
“It’s been interesting for me to get to know Andre on a personal level a little better,” said the red-jacketed Rafter. “What I love about him is his passion. He is so into this event. It’s game on. The players are going to feel that. It’s going to rub off on them. He’s going to be intense. I think I’m going to be the one to calm it down a little bit. That passion brings a different energy, but at the same time it brings excitement.”
Taking over for brothers John and Patrick McEnroe, Agassi and Rafter will do their best to narrow their foes’ 5-2 advantage in this Team Europe vs. Team World competition. To do that, they will need some step-up performances from Taylor Fritz, Alex De Minaur, Francisco Cerundolo and Reilly Opelka, as well as Laver Cup rookies João Fonseca and Alex Michelsen.
“Team Europe is very strong. They’ve got a lot of depth. They’ve got some great players,” said Rafter, who was also getting his first in-person look at the iconic black Laver Cup courts. “Every time you play Team Europe, it’s going to be a tough ask, just purely because of their depth. But we’re here to compete, we’re here to win.”
That aforementioned depth comes in the form of Ruud, rechristened No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, Laver Cup veteran Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune, Jakub Mensik and first-timer Flavio Cobolli, all playing under new skippers Yannick Noah and Tim Henman.
“I’m just looking forward to getting to know the guys, get them on court, help them with their game. If I can help them with their serve-and-volley, I like to think I can add a little bit to their game. Andre can do the baseline side of things,” Rafter said with a smile. “That wasn’t my forte.”
“I’m not going to try to change their game,” he continued. “What I’m trying to do is work with them. What do they need to work on? Maybe a slight tweak. There are a couple of the guys who really want to move forward, and they’re asking me how to do that. That’s my job over the next week. They’re going to pick things up. I’m hoping what I pass on to them is something they can use for the rest of their careers.”
Rafter has a special tie to 20-time major singles titlist Roger Federer, who co-founded the Laver Cup with his agent, Tony Godsick, in 2017. Rafter, after all, topped Federer in the Swiss’ first appearance at a major at Roland Garros in 1999.
“He was a young kid coming through,” recalled Rafter, who claimed the first-round contest, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2. “Lleyton Hewitt had played a lot against him and warned me, ‘This guy’s good’. He was only 17, a wildcard. I came off the court and said, ‘Holy hell, he knows what he’s doing. He’s just soft. He’s going to have to learn his game over time.’ I got to play him again a couple of times. The last time I played him, I just squeaked out a win [4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4)]. He had match points on me. I said, ‘It’s time to leave the game.’ You could just see how beautiful his strokes were. He’s a revolutionary player who changed the game.”
Rafter says he hopes to carry on the tradition forged by former Team World/Team Europe mentors Bjorn Borg, Thomas Enqvist and the McEnroes.
“They did such a great job. You can just see the standard they set here, how high it is, the quality,” Rafter observed. “The players want to come. We want to make this the pinnacle of team events around the world.”