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13. Patrick
Rafter
Age:
24
Height:
6'1"
Weight:
175
Birthplace:
Queensland,
Australia
Highest Rank:
14
(Current)
Career Titles:
1
Best U.S. Open Finish:
Third round,
1994
Last year:
First
round
Whatever You Say,
Coach!: After losing the first two sets of a Davis Cup match to
France's Cedric Pioline in February, Australian coach John
Newcombe told Rafter to "prepare for a war of
attrition." After Rafter won the next three sets and
the match, he admitted to Newcombe
that he had no idea what "attrition"
meant.
Nickname: Skunky, because of the strand of white in his otherwise
brown
hair
14. Mark
Philippoussis
Age:
20
Height:
6'4"
Weight:
202
Birthplace:
Melbourne,
Australia
Highest Rank:
15
(Current)
Career Titles:
1
Best U.S. Open Finish:
Fourth round,
1996
Could You Repeat
That?: "I've always known the only thing that's going to
stop me from getting to the top is my attitude and the
mental side. I've always thought that
I have everything there is to have. When I'm playing well,
I'm at a level no one else can
be."
Daddy
Dearest: Philippoussis went through three coaches in 1996. One of
them, Nick Bollettieri, blamed his departure on an
overbearing Nick Philippoussis—Mark's dad and first coach.
Can't Hit What You Can't
See: Philippoussis's serve has been clocked at 142 mph. It
averages about 130 mph. No wonder Philippoussis averaged 14.3 aces
per match in 1996, second to Ivanisevic's
15.4.
Nickname: Scud. Why? Because his serves are like
missiles.
Profiles by Stephen Thomas
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