McEnroe & Sampras: Why no respect for Rafter?

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After unexpectedly winning the US Open in 1997, John McEnroe attempted to belittle Pat Rafter's achievement and dismissed him as a 'one Slam wonder'.

Similarly, Pete Sampras made snarky comments after Rafter beat him at 1998 Cincinnati. Asked what the difference was between them, Sampras sarcastically replied, "About 10 Slams!" and went on to assert that a player had to come back and win a Grand Slam again in order to be considered great.

When Rafter successfully defended his US Open title the following year, beating Sampras in the semi-final, he still didn't get any respect or acknowledgement. He said, "That is what really upsets me about him and the reason why I try to **** him off as much as I can."

Why this refusal from McEnroe and Sampras to respect Rafter's achievement? It doesn't reflect well on either guy, but especially Sampras!
 
Mainad, I agree that it's bad form. Yet, McEnroe was probably rooting for Sampras a bit, at the expense of Rafter. Then with Sampras, well he was a competitive guy of course. He likely saw it as a chance to try and send a message to Rafter that Sampras was the best player in the world. I'm sure he did not enjoy seeing the U.S. Open, his "home slam" going to Rafter. I agree that both could have handled it better, yet McEnroe, well he's John McEnroe lol. Then with Sampras, he sometimes pulls no punches when it comes to tennis rivals. He was one tough competitor.
 
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Mainad said:
After unexpectedly winning the US Open in 1997, John McEnroe attempted to belittle Pat Rafter's achievement and dismissed him as a 'one Slam wonder'.

Similarly, Pete Sampras made snarky comments after Rafter beat him at 1998 Cincinnati. Asked what the difference was between them, Sampras sarcastically replied, "About 10 Slams!" and went on to assert that a player had to come back and win a Grand Slam again in order to be considered great.

When Rafter successfully defended his US Open title the following year, beating Sampras in the semi-final, he still didn't get any respect or acknowledgement. He said, "That is what really upsets me about him and the reason why I try to **** him off as much as I can."

Why this refusal from McEnroe and Sampras to respect Rafter's achievement? It doesn't reflect well on either guy, but especially Sampras!
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Easy to dredge up quotes from 1997 and 1998, but the key is whether there is respect now, as we live here and now. And I have no doubt the answer is yes - they had some serious battles in the latter stages of their rivalry.
 
I knew some of Pat's family back in the day and they were, to a person, exceptional people. Extremely nice, very humble, normal people.

I can't speak to McEnroe but there was history between Pat and Sampras because at some point, Pat thought it was funny to f@rt in Pete's presence. Supposedly Sampras took this as a sign of great disrespect and was personally affronted by it, when (from what I heard) it was only locker room fun from Pat.

Many Aussies don't take all that kindly to people who take themselves too seriously or who act a little entitled, so Pat I think used Sampras' reaction to wind him up a little more when he could. I can't imagine it was ever malicious though, and apparently they buried the hatchet quite a long time ago.
 
galain said:
I knew some of Pat's family back in the day and they were, to a person, exceptional people. Extremely nice, very humble, normal people.

I can't speak to McEnroe but there was history between Pat and Sampras because at some point, Pat thought it was funny to f@rt in Pete's presence. Supposedly Sampras took this as a sign of great disrespect and was personally affronted by it, when (from what I heard) it was only locker room fun from Pat.

Many Aussies don't take all that kindly to people who take themselves too seriously or who act a little entitled, so Pat I think used Sampras' reaction to wind him up a little more when he could. I can't imagine it was ever malicious though, and apparently they buried the hatchet quite a long time ago.
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How weird, I have heard that story as well, in fact I am sure I read in Pat Cash's book. BUT, the story was Rafter doing that in Agassi's presence and Agassi taking a personal affront, consequently their matches having an edge (lots of five setters between them).

Just goes to show how hearsay can be misleading, in other words who knows what the truth is, Pat Cash's story is also hearsay after all.
 
I haven't read or heard anything that suggested Rafter was a jerk but I do feel that McEnroe and Sampras did behave like jerks towards him. They seemed to feel it was almost an insult when Rafter won the 1997 USO and that he dared to defend it and kept beating Sampras into the bargain apparently just compounded the offence. Clearly, that was Rafter's take on it as well.

My feeling is that John and Pete were just p1ssed that this unknown Aussie seemingly came out of nowhere and stole their home tournament away from them. For the previous 4 years, the US Open had been the strict preserve of Sampras and Agassi, the top 2 American players and, in stark contrast to today, American players ruled the roost and expected to win all the big titles, especially their home Slam.

I guess we tend to assume that it is unthinkable that any of today's top players would openly diss someone who came out of the blue and sneaked a Slam from under their noses but, then again, it hardly ever happens. The most recently close example was Del Potro's surprise win at the 2009 US Open and Federer was noticeably irritated by it and claimed that he had lost it more than Del Potro had won it and Del Potro was a top 10 player unlike Rafter in '97.

I guess it all adds to the psychological pressure on lower ranked players trying to make the breakthrough against the Big Guys. You need to have a hide as tough as a rhinoceros as well as the requisite belief and confidence in your game.
 
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Rafter was exactly the player Sampras had trouble with, attackers with good serves. Rafter, Krajicek, Goran, etc.

Rafter was a very nice player but I can't believe he won two US Opens. The only thing i hated about him was the huge baggy over-sized shirts he wore. Get a tailor man!!!
 
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I always thought Sampras was a little bit like Jordan in the sense that he would manufacture any extra motivation that he could. He was a competitive guy, that's probably all it was really about. I do recall hearing something about Rafter not being happy about it and wanting to smooth things out between them, but I'm not sure if it ever happened.


Top Jimmy said:
Rafter was a very nice player but I can't believe he won two US Opens. The only thing i hated about him was the huge baggy over-sized shirts he wore. Get a tailor man!!!
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I wasn't a fan of the high ponytail.
 
galain said:
I knew some of Pat's family back in the day and they were, to a person, exceptional people. Extremely nice, very humble, normal people.

I can't speak to McEnroe but there was history between Pat and Sampras because at some point, Pat thought it was funny to f@rt in Pete's presence. Supposedly Sampras took this as a sign of great disrespect and was personally affronted by it, when (from what I heard) it was only locker room fun from Pat.

Many Aussies don't take all that kindly to people who take themselves too seriously or who act a little entitled, so Pat I think used Sampras' reaction to wind him up a little more when he could. I can't imagine it was ever malicious though, and apparently they buried the hatchet quite a long time ago.
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that's funnier than hell....as if Sampras made candy when he f@rted...

Laurie said:
How weird, I have heard that story as well, in fact I am sure I read in Pat Cash's book. BUT, the story was Rafter doing that in Agassi's presence and Agassi taking a personal affront, consequently their matches having an edge (lots of five setters between them).

Just goes to show how hearsay can be misleading, in other words who knows what the truth is, Pat Cash's story is also hearsay after all.
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So smoking crack or meth is Agassi's presence is A-OK but a little poot toot is unacceptable? LMAO

I too have never heard anything but good things about Rafter. He deflected all of the comments made by McEnroe and Sampras and actually was quite humorous. I don't know why either McEnroe or Sampras would expect someone to bow before them.

And let's face it, there aren't two bigger egomaniacs on the planet than McEnroe and Sampras, not even the Donald can compete with them.
 
Had about a 5 minute chat with Rafter in New Haven, just before his game really took off mid 90's, maybe 96?

Seriously good dude.....and this was right after a tough loss....

My kid still cherishes the ball he pulled out of his bag and signed for him with his sharpie, we weren't hunting autographs.

My favorite player ever and his level for those 2 years in the late 90's IMHO was as high a level of tennis that has ever been played....sick good.
 
Mainad said:
After unexpectedly winning the US Open in 1997, John McEnroe attempted to belittle Pat Rafter's achievement and dismissed him as a 'one Slam wonder'.

Similarly, Pete Sampras made snarky comments after Rafter beat him at 1998 Cincinnati. Asked what the difference was between them, Sampras sarcastically replied, "About 10 Slams!" and went on to assert that a player had to come back and win a Grand Slam again in order to be considered great.

When Rafter successfully defended his US Open title the following year, beating Sampras in the semi-final, he still didn't get any respect or acknowledgement. He said, "That is what really upsets me about him and the reason why I try to **** him off as much as I can."

Why this refusal from McEnroe and Sampras to respect Rafter's achievement? It doesn't reflect well on either guy, but especially Sampras!
Click to expand...

Maybe because Pat won the sportsmanship award more times on his own than those 2 combined. Says something about Rafter, but unfortunately, more about the other 2.
 
gregor.b said:
Maybe because Pat won the sportsmanship award more times on his own than those 2 combined. Says something about Rafter, but unfortunately, more about the other 2.
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I will say it again though that these guys' perspective would have changed since 1997 when they were young guys in their mid 20s. I don't really see Maindad's goal in bringing this up 14 years after it happened as if it happened yesterday, clearly Sampras wouldn't have the same opinion about Rafter now, he respects Rafter as a competitor. So there's no point saying this and that like it happened yesterday, that is illogical.
 
Laurie said:
I will say it again though that these guys' perspective would have changed since 1997 when they were young guys in their mid 20s. I don't really see Maindad's goal in bringing this up 14 years after it happened as if it happened yesterday, clearly Sampras wouldn't have the same opinion about Rafter now, he respects Rafter as a competitor. So there's no point saying this and that like it happened yesterday, that is illogical.
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Laurie, if we can't discuss what happened yesterday, then what the heck is this particular forum all about? If you have evidence that Sampras and Rafter's relationship has improved since the late 1990s, I would be glad to hear it. But I'm still puzzled and disappointed that he reacted so negatively to him in the first place and wanted to get other people's opinions on why it occurred.
 
Mainad said:
Laurie, discussing former players and what happened yesterday is what this particular forum is all about. If you have evidence that Sampras and Rafter's relationship has improved since the late 1990s, I would be glad to hear it. But I'm still puzzled and disappointed that he reacted so negatively to him in the first place and wanted to get other people's opinions on why it occurred.
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Come on Maindad, if you actually read what you typed, then you are dissapointed 15 years on...That's 15 years after those guys were dissapointed. Surely that can't be the case. As Donald Rumsfeld said 10 years ago "stuff happens". They were competitors.

Sampras wrote his book in the mid 2000s and was published in 2008, and he claims that they patched up their differences. That's good enough for me, we have all moved on. Some of the guys here are commenting like the event happened last week, that's illogical.

If you want my talke on why it happened? Sampras had beaten Rafter eight straight matches over a five year period, until that match point over rule in the 1998 Cincinnati final, Sampras assumed all he had to do was turn up to beat Rafter. But Rafter was a fighter, after getting hammered 6-1 in the first set, he someohow came back and made a match of it, which got under Sampras' skin. Then it all kicked off after Lars Graf's overule, things were said after and its well documented. Bear this in mind though, in the days of hawkeye, that bad blood could not have materialised because the call would have been challenged and the verdict accepted.

The other thing is despite Rafter's fabled kick serve and fighting spirit, the rivalry finished 12-4 to Sampras. And to be fair Rafter did well to get up to four wins, Sampras just loved to return Rafter's serve and hit passing shots; other than Becker, Sampras really loved attacking Rafter's serve, he again said that in his book, he talked about the Rafter "backhand body" serve, but Sampras passed Rafter as much as Agassi did in their rivalry.

Here's an example of that.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1...-to-ballkid-after-sampras-passing-shots_sport
 
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I should mention the clips is from the first set of that famous (or infamous?) 1998 Cincinnati final, depending how you look at it.
 
Laurie said:
Come on Maindad, if you actually read what you typed, then you are dissapointed 15 years on...That's 15 years after those guys were dissapointed. Surely that can't be the case. As Donald Rumsfeld said 10 years ago "stuff happens". They were competitors.
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Well, I am disappointed that it happened and, as I said, this is the forum to discuss events of the past and I wanted to get other people's opinions about it to see if I had misunderstood something or not got the facts quite right. Seems I hadn't and didn't.

BTW, my user-name is 'Mainad' not 'Maindad' as you keep typing.

Laurie said:
Sampras wrote his book in the mid 2000s and was published in 2008, and he claims that they patched up their differences. That's good enough for me, we have all moved on. Some of the guys here are commenting like the event happened last week, that's illogical.
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That's interesting that Sampras has attempted to draw a line under it. I would be even more interested to see what Rafter has had to say about it since, if anything at all.

Laurie said:
If you want my talke on why it happened? Sampras had beaten Rafter eight straight matches over a five year period, until that match point over rule in the 1998 Cincinnati final, Sampras assumed all he had to do was turn up to beat Rafter. But Rafter was a fighter, after getting hammered 6-1 in the first set, he someohow came back and made a match of it, which got under Sampras' skin. Then it all kicked off after Lars Graf's overule, things were said after and its well documented. Bear this in mind though, in the days of hawkeye, that bad blood could not have materialised because the call would have been challenged and the verdict accepted.
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Of course, it's understandable that things were said in the heat of the moment. That happens all the time at many matches with many different players. It's the continuing post-match animosity in this case that intrigues me.

Laurie said:
The other thing is despite Rafter's fabled kick serve and fighting spirit, the rivalry finished 12-4 to Sampras. And to be fair Rafter did well to get up to four wins, Sampras just loved to return Rafter's serve and hit passing shots; other than Becker, Sampras really loved attacking Rafter's serve, he again said that in his book, he talked about the Rafter "backhand body" serve, but Sampras passed Rafter as much as Agassi did in their rivalry.
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Sounds like what you say then, that Sampras was plain peeved that a guy he usually owned would have the gall to beat him in the final of a Masters and then at the hallowed turf of his home Slam where he normally ruled the roost and shared the honours with only his fellow American, Agassi!

Laurie said:
Here's an example of that.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1...-to-ballkid-after-sampras-passing-shots_sport
Click to expand...

Thanks.
 
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Sampras felt he owned Rafter (and it was quite true, their head to head at that point was 8-1 Sampras, who had defeated Rafter 8 straight times).

Then it came that 1998 Cincinnati final, where Sampras was killing Rafter badly ( 6-1 in the first set ). Pete had also several break points to break Rafter's serve during the second set, especially at 4-4 or 5-5 (can't remember now) and in one of those break points Rafter made an ace out wide that Sampras thought it was out, he looked at the chair umpire but didn't say anything.

Rafter went on fighting as always and they went to a tie-breaker that Rafter won.

Suddenly the match was even.

And finally came that match point where Rafter made (again) an ace that it looked out wide to Sampras, it was called out (IIRC) but the chair umpire overruled.

Sampras didn't accept that loss, he probably felt he should have won 6-1 6-4.

But instead of getting angry with himself or with the chair umpire, he took it to Rafter also (unjustifiable).

Shortly after that it came the 1998 US OPEN SF between them. Both players wanted to win badly. It was a very competitive match. Sampras was leading 7-6 4-6 6-2 when he got injured in the leg. He kept on trying but his movement was hindered and he lost the final two sets 6-4 and 6-3.

Again Sampras probably thought he would have won if not for his injury at the end of the third set.

Once again, instead of getting angry with himself or with his bad luck (injury), he took it to Rafter in a disrespectful way.


Sampras had too big of an ego and wanted everybody to know that he would have won those two matches if not for those "out of his control" circumstances. He didn't give Rafter any credit for those two wins.


Rafter was one of the most respected and loved tennis players. He was extremely kind to everybody, and he probably didn't expect that kind of behavior from Sampras.


It seems they ease things up after that episode.


In a extrictly tennis sense, their matches were great to watch, lots of winners and attacking shots all the time.
 
Mainad (got it right this time).

I think its fair to say Rafter was not very complimentary about Sampras for a while, think in some talk show mentioned Sampras acted like a baby after the match (Sampras smashed the lighting fixtures in the locker room, Luke Jensen mentioned that before their 1999 Cincinnati final rematch). I also remember they had a chat at the end of the 1999 final rematch at the net. But as I said, long time ago and as far as I understand, they've patched it up, deep down there will always be a bit of needle perhaps, but they have played eachother in tournaments in the senior tour in the last few years.

Agree completely with Mattennis, one of my favourite rivalries, even their 2000 Wimbledon final was a great match. If Sampras played Rafter and Agassi more often in Wimbledon finals and not Ivanisevic (twice), I'm sure that would have been better for the media because both guys allowed Sampras to hit his shots, Ivanisevic neurtalised that with his serve and vice versa.
 
mattennis said:
Sampras felt he owned Rafter (and it was quite true, their head to head at that point was 8-1 Sampras, who had defeated Rafter 8 straight times).

Then it came that 1998 Cincinnati final, where Sampras was killing Rafter badly ( 6-1 in the first set ). Pete had also several break points to break Rafter's serve during the second set, especially at 4-4 or 5-5 (can't remember now) and in one of those break points Rafter made an ace out wide that Sampras thought it was out, he looked at the chair umpire but didn't say anything.

Rafter went on fighting as always and they went to a tie-breaker that Rafter won.

Suddenly the match was even.

And finally came that match point where Rafter made (again) an ace that it looked out wide to Sampras, it was called out (IIRC) but the chair umpire overruled.

Sampras didn't accept that loss, he probably felt he should have won 6-1 6-4.

But instead of getting angry with himself or with the chair umpire, he took it to Rafter also (unjustifiable).

Shortly after that it came the 1998 US OPEN SF between them. Both players wanted to win badly. It was a very competitive match. Sampras was leading 7-6 4-6 6-2 when he got injured in the leg. He kept on trying but his movement was hindered and he lost the final two sets 6-4 and 6-3.

Again Sampras probably thought he would have won if not for his injury at the end of the third set.

Once again, instead of getting angry with himself or with his bad luck (injury), he took it to Rafter in a disrespectful way.


Sampras had too big of an ego and wanted everybody to know that he would have won those two matches if not for those "out of his control" circumstances. He didn't give Rafter any credit for those two wins.


Rafter was one of the most respected and loved tennis players. He was extremely kind to everybody, and he probably didn't expect that kind of behavior from Sampras.


It seems they ease things up after that episode.


In a extrictly tennis sense, their matches were great to watch, lots of winners and attacking shots all the time.
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great post.

it's one of the rare occasions where pete's behaviour disappointed me. well, we're not talking about a nadalian behaviour, of course, but it wasn't cool, especially to a nice guy like pat ! ;)
 
I've only ever heard good things about Pat Rafter, but I do have one gripe. He moved to the tax haven of Bermuda to pay less tax. He was lauded for donating to charity but that's pretty easy to do given all the tax you have saved. For all his faults, I think Hewitt has always paid his Aussie taxes.
 
Sampras and Rafter get on well. I saw them play an exo at MSG in Novemeber and Pete and Pat did the clinic together. Pat beat Pete and they joked about how Pat would trade beating him tonight in MSG for the 1 time they played at the All England Club, they were very respectful, and even joking with each other during points
 
Rafter got all the women. Mac and Sampras were jealous that such a pretty boy could be so good at the game. I think everyone liked Rafter. He was kind of the successor to Edberg. Albeit the chip and dales version.
 
Rafter could have won both Wimbledon Finals and I really wish he had of. A perfect 4-0 and a real finger to Sampras denying him that 7th title. I honestly think it was jealousy from Mac & Pete. Rafter just looks better and didn't really have any hate from fans.
 
Top Jimmy said:
The only thing i hated about him was the huge baggy over-sized shirts he wore. Get a tailor man!!!
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i don't know about the shirt... but i loved his "hawaiian shorts" ! ;)
1552637.jpg

(1999, was it ?)
 
TadDavis said:
Anyone remember Sampras's serve that went right through Rafter's string bed? One of my favorite tennis highlights.
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Yes, that was an amazing serve.

To be fair, it should also be mentioned that one of Rafter's serves broke Sampras' racquet.
 
Mainad said:
...

Pete Sampras made snarky comments after Rafter beat him at 1998 Cincinnati. Asked what the difference was between them, Sampras sarcastically replied, "About 10 Slams!" and went on to assert that a player had to come back and win a Grand Slam again in order to be considered great.

When Rafter successfully defended his US Open title the following year, beating Sampras in the semi-final, he still didn't get any respect or acknowledgement. He said, "That is what really upsets me about him and the reason why I try to **** him off as much as I can."

Why this refusal from McEnroe and Sampras to respect Rafter's achievement? It doesn't reflect well on either guy, but especially Sampras!
Click to expand...


Haha - I don't think its as bad as you've taken it!

Sampras, I believe was joking with his "10 grand slams" comment. He wasn't the funniest of guys :), so it came off harsh. A charmer like Federer can say stuff like that with a cheerful smile and people would laugh. Sampras, not so much.

After losing in 5 at US Open in 98, Sampras attributed the loss to a leg injury. Was this a deliberate snub at Rafter? Maybe, but I'd guess not really.

Of mentality (tennis wise), Sampras was completely self-absorbed. Its part of what made him great I'm sure. And I think he was just speaking his mind as he saw it. Look at his post-match comments over the years -

- if he won, he'd say, "I played well, I served well"
-if he lost, he'd say, "I didn't play well, I didn't serve well"

... its almost like he was barely aware of the guy at the other end!:D:D:D


He did say something about seeing Rafter holding up the US Open trophy "pissed him off", which was uncharacteristic and I'm pretty sure, not a joke.

Anyway, alls well that ends well. "A class guy, on and off the court", I think Pete called him on court after Wimbledon final 2000.

---

Don't know about Mac. Suspect there's some heat behind his dismissive attitude, but it wasn't an unfair take at the time.

Rafter had won just one tournament in his career prior to that first US Open (a minor one 3 years ago) and reached the quarters of a major once in about 20 tries
 
Waspsting said:
Q) So, Pete, tell me, which pisses you off more. Rafter holding up the US Open trophy? Or the Wimbledon trophy?

A):confused::mad::confused::mad:
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That sounds like a question my wife would ask me, in that I am in trouble no matter what I say.
 
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Rafter was a great guy-

Americans can be very blunt (surprisingly lol)

i dont think Mac and Pete have any issues with pat, i think they saw an Aussie take their title and didnt like it for that moment and said silly things in the heat of the moment

.... they are americans, this isnt a huge suprise
 
If he answers Wimbledon, follow up question -

"Interesting, why do you think that is? Do you think its maybe because you got to see him hold it up right here in front of you?"

If US Open -

"Interesting, why do you think that is than? Do you think maybe the thought of Pat holding one of your trophys up pisses you off more than him actually doing it?"

- - -
Some press boys came not too far from this once.

A reporter asked Jimmy Connors after the 84 Wimbledon final drubbing if he was willing to admit that McEnroe was the better player.

Pete got a bit testy when a reporter asked if he thought it was time to retire after Sampras had gone down on grass to a Spanish clay court specialist (Corretja?), deep into his post Wimbledon 2000 title draught

"Are you trying to be funny?" Was his reply
 
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