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Tuesday, September 19
Dispute dates back to '98 Davis Cup
Reuters
SYDNEY, Australia -- Australia's Patrick Rafter wants to end
his feud with teammate Mark Philippoussis and would even
volunteer to share a room with him at the Olympic village.
The two have hardly spoken to each other since Rafter
criticized Philippoussis for pulling out of July's Davis Cup
semifinal against Brazil.
|  | | Rafter defeated Philippoussis in the 1998 U.S. Open final. |
But with the Games only a week away, Rafter says he wants
to bury the hatchet. "I'm very happy to call it quits," Rafter
told a news conference on Friday.
"If I see him, I'll be very happy to go up and say g'day.
"I don't want to make it uncomfortable for him...I'm very
happy to sit down and talk and just try and be in a really good
team atmosphere."
Philippoussis first upset his Davis Cup team mates when he
withdrew from a 1998 tie with Zimbabwe that Australia lost, but
he then helped Australia win last year's final in France.
But relations soured again this year when the big-serving
Philippoussis withdrew from the Brazilian tie, prompting Rafter
to tell him to stop "jerking" his teammates around.
The rift deepened in July when Adelaide teenager Lleyton
Hewitt said Philippoussis wouldn't be needed for this year's
final in Spain after Australia beat Brazil 5-0.
But Rafter, who beat Philippoussis in the 1998 U.S. Open
final, said he was so keen to resolve the dispute that he would
volunteer to room with him in the Athletes' Village.
"If we're rooming together we've really got to clean it
then," Rafter said.
"It's a tricky one but I think over time I think it can
work itself out."
While some of the world's top players have made themselves
unavailable for the Olympics, Rafter said he was relishing the
chance to play.
"It could be bigger and better than the U.S. Open, it could
bigger and better than the Davis Cup," the former world number
one said.
"I can't really compare it right now because I don't have
the gold medal around me but I'm sure it would be highly up
there."
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