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 Bring it on Rafter ready for Wimbledon after Heineken win
Posted: Sunday June 21, 1998 03:23 PM
ROSMALEN, Netherlands (AP) -- Patrick Rafter completed his preparations for Wimbledon by beating Czech Martin Damm 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 in the final of the Heineken Trophy grass-court tennis tournament Sunday. Ranked sixth in the world and seeded No. 6 at Wimbledon, Rafter struggled with his service return in first set before taking control of the match. Both players held their first six service games without facing a break point. The turning point of the set and the match came on a line call on the first point of the tiebreaker, with top-seeded Rafter serving. Rafter chased a lob almost into the boards at the back of the court and presented Damm with an easy high overhead. But the No. 85th-ranked Czech missed the shot by a fraction, then complained to the umpire that he had seen chalk rise. Rafter stormed into a 5-0 lead, wrapped up the tiebreaker 7-2 and broke Damm's serve in the first game of the second set. Rafter broke at love in the seventh game to take a 5-2 lead, then finished the match with two aces the next game. It was the fourth tournament win of the 25-year-old Australian's career, including last year's U.S. Open, and earned him $66,400 and 170 ATP tour points.
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This was the fourth tournament win of Rafter's career 