8th October, 2000

Scud's no dud

Pat Rafter writes exclusively for the Sunday Times
The Olympics was a fantastic experience and the benefits of the Games will flow on for a long time. One of the positives to come out of the Olympics is Mark Philippoussis.

Mark and I had the chance to talk in Sydney and we got along well. The conversations have continued up here in Hong Kong this week and I'm really pleased with the way things are going.

Mark has said he won't be playing for Australia in the Davis Cup final this year and we've accepted that. He has made no promises about next year, but he has said he'll see how it goes then.

I think that' a pretty good sign.

I've always believed Mark is a good guy, but there have been times when he's been influenced in the wrong way by some of the people around him. That's been the unfortunate part, but I think he's working in the right direction.

He seems pretty cool with everything at the moment and he's playing well again, so he's got a lot to be positive about.

The Olympics are something no Australian athlete will ever forget.

I roomed with Lleyton Hewitt and, even though we both lost early in Sydney, we both had a great time getting out to see some of the other events.

We got to the swimming three times and to the athletics twice. The team spirit among the Aussies was great and I would have loved to have seen a lot more sport, but tennis took up most of my time.

If we weren't playing, we were practising or watching matches involving Australians.

The tennis stadium in Sydney is one of the most impressive venues I've ever seen. Its got a great feel and the crowd is really close, which creates a great atmosphere.

The highlight for me was the opening ceremony. I was outside the stadium when Andrew Gaze led the team in, but the noise form the crowd was unbelievable. It was something I will never forget.

We came in towards the end of the Australian team but the atmosphere was electric.

It was incredible and I'm sure it played a huge part in why the Aussies did so well in the two weeks of the Games.

Unfortunately, none of the tennis players was able to be in the closing ceremony.

I watched it on television from Hong Kong and it looked amazing. It seemed strange to think I'd been part of the Games and here I was watching it from another country.

There's  been no problem with the shoulder and I got through a tough three-setter with Jonas (Bjorkman) on Thursday night.

It was a strange match. I was down 2-4 in the first set and won it 6-4 and served for the match at 5-3 in the second set.

Jonas won that 7-5 and then had me 3-3 (0-40) in the third set before I got out of it 6-3. The good thing is that the shoulder was okay the next day.

Whatever happens this week, I'm taking time off at the end of this tournament because it's going to be a bloody long haul through to the Davis Cup final at Barcelona in December.

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