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REMODELLING A CHAMPION

YOUR GAME SET THE MATCH SCENE •

STOSUR’S HIGH VOLLEY • SURVIVE SUMMER HEAT •

FITNESS & NUTRITION •

PATRICK RAFTER

A LEGENDRETURNS

ANA IVANOVIC

BONUS:DECEMBER

SHOWDOWNSPECIAL

STAR GAZINGWHO’S HOT, WHO’S NOT

DEMENTIEVA •DARREN CAHILL •

RODIONOVA •

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FEATURES

DECEMBER 2010VOL 35 No. 12A $7.50 (inc. GST) NZ $8.40 (inc. GST) US $7.50

AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | December 2010 3

15 Back to her best After her late-season

resurgence, Ana Ivanovic is committed to more success in the Australian summer.

18 Turning points Many players will look back

on season 2010 knowing there were key junctures that shaped their playing careers.

28 Look who’s back … Pat Rafter returns to the

fold as captain of Australia’s Davis Cup team – and Australia’s tennis supporters couldn’t be happier.

30 A year to remember After a year of personal and

professional highs, Anastasia Rodionova is relishing the thought of contesting her home Grand Slam in Melbourne.32

Killer Instinct Esteemed analyst

Darren Cahill considers the success stories of 2010, and the players to watch in 2011.

45 December Showdown special Your guide to the December

Showdown at Melbourne Park.

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DECEMBER 2010

EDITOR Vivienne Christie CONSULTING EDITOR Alan Trengove ASSISTANT EDITOR Daniela ToleskiART DIRECTOR Naomi O’BryanADVERTISING MANAGER Jackie CunninghamADMINISTRATION &SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Ben CarencoMY COACH CONTENT Travis Atkinson, Karen Clydesdale PHOTOGRAPHS Getty Images, John Anthony (All photographs by Getty Images unless specified)COVER PHOTO Courtesy of Verano

Australian Tennis Magazine is published monthly by TENNIS AUSTRALIA LTD, Private Bag 6060, Richmond, Vic 3121. Ph: (03) 9914 4200 Email: editor@tennismag.com.au

Distributed by Network Distribution CompanyPrinted in Australia by Webstar

The views expressed in Australian Tennis Magazine are not necessarily those held by Tennis Australia. While the utmost care is taken in compiling the information contained in this publication, Tennis Australia is not responsible for any loss or injury occurring as a result of any omissions in either the editorial or advertising appearing herein.

REGULARS7 Topspin

13 Your Serve

36 Court Talk

40 Rankings

61 My Game

68 My Coach

78 Club of the Month

FROM THE EDITOR

Every tennis fan has a favourite player, and practically every one of

those players would be able to tell you that they, too, adopted a

prominent role model as they rose to the top of their game.

These players not only set the standard in actual achievements, but also

demonstrate the behavioural and personal qualities required to attain them.

Role models are generally admired from afar, so when the players get

a chance to meet and spend time with their heroes, the results can be

spectacular. Many are hoping that this will be the case after Pat Rafter’s

appointment as Australia’s Davis Cup captain.

Still one of the most popular figures in Australian tennis, Rafter’s passion

for the game is contagious, and his credentials in nurturing the new wave

of local champions are indisputable. The two-time US Open champion

and former world No. 1 has also learned plenty from his own role models

– including outgoing captain John Fitzgerald, who was recently elected to

the board of Tennis Australia – and will have another one right by his side

throughout the Davis Cup captaincy, with Tony Roche also returning to the

coaching role.

Role models will also be a theme during this month’s December Showdown,

which culminates in the Australian Open Play-off for the coveted Australian

Open wildcard. The carnival of tennis has been carefully structured so that

while some juniors are contesting their own events, they also have a chance

to watch and learn from the players who’ve gone before them.

It’s a formula that will help bring out the players’ best, and also provides

some wonderful spectator opportunities (along with free entry to Melbourne

Park). Your full guide to the December Showdown starts on page 45 – if

you can’t get along in person, at least take note of the Australian names

to remember. Many of them are still learning from their role models, while

others are already setting the standard for other players to follow.

VIVIENNE CHRISTIE, Editor

494 AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | December 2010

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So what IS it about Pat Rafter?Yeah sure he is good looking. Alright, VERY good looking.

Yep he was the number one tennis player in the world. And ok, so he won two Grand Slams and made two Wimbledon fi nals.

But he did retire at the end of 2002. That’s nearly a decade ago. Yet when Tennis Australia announced he was the new Davis Cup captain, the reaction was incredible.

The Twitter and Facebook universes were full of pats for good old Pat. Online comment sections fl ooded with adoration. Past players and coaches keenly sang his praises.

All of them said the same thing. Brilliant move.Why?

There were several common themes that have come through.

He was a great talent but a good thinker. He got the most out of his game. He summed up opponents well. He will inspire a new generation. He will not put up with any rubbish. And ... he is just a really good guy.

Remember when Rafter beat Greg Rusedski in four sets for his breakthrough Grand Slam title in the 1997 US Open in 1997, a sceptical John McEnroe described him as a one slam wonder. Some of us would not have reacted too kindly to that. It was the sort of comment that can start a never-ending

war of words and impair relationships for generations.

Obviously Rafter went on to prove McEnroe wrong. But along the way he has well and truly won him over to the point where the New Yorker’s reaction to the Rafter’s Davis Cup appointment could not have been more glowing.

“I think Patrick Rafter is a fantastic appointment, absolutely fi rst class,” said McEnroe, on his way to fi nishing runner up to the local favourite at the Champions Downunder seniors’ event in Sydney.

“There’s not a single guy on the tour that doesn’t like this young man, he’s a mate’s mate as you say in Australia. I think he’s going to do a great job.”

McEnroe is talking about so much more than forehands and backhands. Maybe this is the real genius of the Rafter appointment.

His talent, experience, knowledge, communication and skills for the job are undisputed, but his unashamed national pride might just be the thing that puts Davis Cup and indeed tennis in general front and centre in the hearts and minds of Australian sports fans.

(Note: If you want to pause for a moment and get an understanding of

just how deep the love is for this Australian tennis legend, fi re up the computer and log on to You Tube. Type in “Pat Rafter does a Federer in his undies” and you’ll see a very funny video of Rafter, during a break in the fi lming of his latest Bonds commercial, emulating Federer’s famous William Tell shot. Once you have fi nished watching, take note of how many people have already had a look prior to you. Last check the fi gure was just over 380,000!)

Rafter’s patriotic streak was defi nitely on show as he and Tony Roche fronted the media throng (rather appropriately while standing on Brisbane’s Pat Rafter Arena) resplendent in their Davis Cup gold jackets.

“I see it (the captaincy) as a big honor. It’s going to be a real challenge, but it’s a great challenge, something we are really looking forward to. I really would love to have been a part of a winning Davis Cup team.”

Perhaps that also partly explains his desire to take on such a big task. That and wanting to put back into the sport and help kids win Grand Slams and Davis Cups.

“Davis Cup is really important to Australia. It’s Australian culture you know, it’s one of those things if you get selected for your country it’s a big honour to be part of it. So we want to make sure we establish that again with the kids,” he explained.

But if any of those kids think that part of Rafter’s good guy image is a soft touch, be warned.

“So if you get a phone call it’ll be: ‘Do you want to play?’ and it’s a ‘yes’,” he said, adamant there can be no umming and aaaahing. “If it’s a hesitation, I don’t want to be part of any hesitation ...these kids have gotta say ‘yes I want to play’ straight away. It’s a big honour.”

Seeing the pair of Australian legends standing there surrounded by television cameras, photographers and reporters was enough to make even the most cynical tennis fan start to forget that the Australians lost to Belgium in September and are destined for

Almost a decade after he of� cially hung up his racquets, the overwhelming enthusiasm for Pat Rafter’s appointment as Australia’s Davis Cup captain proves he’s still one of the most popular members of the Australian tennis community. JEREMY STYLES reports

28 AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | December 2010

Look who’s back …

of comment that can start a never-ending

With Tony Roche by his side, the unashamedly

patriotic Rafter has high hopes for Australia’s

Davis Cup future.

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AustrAliAn tennis MAgAzine | December 2010 29

another year outside of the Davis Cup World Group.

Especially when Roche, who has helped resurrect Australia’s Davis Cup fortunes before, sounds so assured.

“I think Pat’s going to do a great job he should be an inspiration to the young kids. We’re very much looking forward to the challenge, it’s a big challenge, we’ve got a long way to go we have no doubt about that there’s a lot of hard work to be done over the next few years.

“I’m sure with Pat being the captain the young players are going to look up to him and learn from him and we’ll get back to the good old days.”

Of course, one of those kids from the good old days is now the veteran of the team and the new leadership team are adamant that Lleyton Hewitt is still very much required.

“He’s the man we need,” Rafter said adding “hopefully all the young guys will be able to feed off him.”

There are many of these young guys that Rafter already knows well. While he may not have been on the tour for eight years, he has still conducted numerous training camps with our best youngsters, had a stint as a Junior Davis Cup captain, was on the coaching staff for the Davis Cup tie in Cairns recently and has had innumerable informal hits with these top kids over the years.

Again, one could ask why...as in why bother?

Well, maybe here is the answer to the secret to Pat Rafter’s incredible popularity. It seems that he cares. Whether it is his mates, his family, his sport or his country, he genuinely seems to give a damn. And now, with him very much involved in Davis Cup, so do a lot more Australian tennis fans. n

Fan Focus: Pat Rafter was put to the test with a range of questions from Aussie tennis fans. Hear what he had to say at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ3d0IFqKs

Look who’s back …

Fittingly, Rafter’s first media appearance as Australia’s Davis Cup captain occurred on Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane.

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