Patrick Rafter using reliable work ethic

“It’s always happened to me in the past, and again it’s happened here this week.”

Rafter came to Victoria Park after a disappointing showing at the home Olympics in Sydney, where he won only a single round.

But that loss combined with a first-round exit at the US Open in August still couldn’t dull his taste for the hard slog“I trained very hard in Sydney for a couple of weeks. The Olympics didn’t go how I wanted it to but I kept up training and came here with a lot of hard work under my belt.”

Rafter, his shoulder problem from 1999 now well under control, showed that his efforts were worthwhile as he beat doubles partner Jonas Bjorkman in the second round and knocked out top seed Gustavo Kuerten in a thrilling quarter-final.

“I’ve played some good tennis again,” he said.

“It just feels good to know that every time that I do the hard work and put my mind to it that if it doesn’t happen the first week, then it will happen in the next couple of weeks.

“I do take a lot away from that.”

Rafter returns to the ATP Tour circuit in late October at the Masters Series in Stuttgart indoors.

In the interim, he will work on his clay game in anticipation for the Davis Cup finals battle on the surface against Spain in Barcelona in December.