I remember watching this match as a kid at my grandmas house. Still sticks in my mind as the most entertaining game I ever watched. The best serve volleyer vs the best baseliner/returner of their era. Every point was so aggressive. Rarely a long rally most pints were just Rafter blitzing the net and agassi going for passing shot winners.
I was 12 when Rafter won the 1997 US Open and I fell in love with tennis then and there. Saved up and went to the sports shop and asked for a Pat Rafter racket. Shop keeper asked which one was that and I said the one with a P on it for Pat. Haha
That’s what I’d call a tennis match! Rafter an amazing volleyer and Agassi a great returner. Notice - very few fist pumps or stare downs. They just went about their business at a very high level. Certainly a classic match.
@@johngalt3118 I hate serve and volley guys in the 90s but now i love watching them. It's so different and refreshing after not seeing anyone play the net for 20 years now
Saque e Volley foi Batido, hoje em dia tem muito mais trocas de bolas, muito mais Spin e velocidade, Cressy é um jogador atual de saque e voleio mas como não tem variação de jogo se torna limitado.
Os jogadores atuais, os únicos que impressionam, são Djokovic e Nadal. Que falta fazem jogadores tipo Rafter, Agassi, Federer.. Não imaginava o qto Rafter era incrível no ataque, no voleio. Hoje não há jogadores deste nivel.
Rackets have been as powerful now since at least the early or mid 90s (actually lots of pro's use "pro stock" frames, which makes them substantially Less powerful by shifting more weight to the handle and have huge swingweights). Biggest game changers since then have been poly strings (pro's can now hit out very fully and with loads of spin, and not worry about it going long) as well as bigger balls & slower surfaces. All that (and of course better fitness regimes, better diets, etc at top level) has killed off serve and volley at top level But serve and volley can still be crazy effective at rec level. I, once on a good day of mine, got pretty much blown off the court by a 40+ year old effective serve and volleyer (granted I was a 3.5 up to low 4.0 ntrp)/ Key is to be confident and always get the first serve in (and a good serve)... but of course most people nowadays don't practice or believe in it enough to think serve and volley can actually work
@spirg So with multi-millions at stake, they just can't figure out that it would still be effective on today's tour? How does that make sense? People copy what works. A big serve won't get you as far today as it did then, and that has been a great thing. Lazy? I didn't realize that there was any argument that those extinct s&v dinosaurs traveled notably less distance over the course of a match than their counterparts today.
I think Agassi would have won probably 3 Wimbledon titles instead of 1 if he had played on the grass and used the balls Wimbledon uses today. This was pretty fast grass.
My favourite rivalry due to the clash in styles and both Rafter and Agassi were likeable characters too :) Glad we got to witness the Wimbledon trilogy between them in 1999, 2000 and 2001 (albeit all in the semis, wished there had been 1 final featuring them)
Andre was a tad unlucky in that trilogy. He tore Pat to shreds in 99 and lost the next 2 in 5 setters, he was a break up in the 5th in 2001. Such wonderful tennis to watch.
@@Silk1970 Oh I don't know. Agassi beat Rafter in the AO semis, but Rafter beat Agassi in the US Open 4'th round 1997. They were both great and each had their wins.
Rafter one if my all time favorite tennis players! One of the best volleyers in tennis history! A shame he never won Wimbledon! He should have two!! At the very least!
Right? It's so cool that they put these old matches up for us to watch. I hated serve and volley players in the 90s but now i love watching Rafter, Henman, Edberg (especially), and even Sampras. It's just fun to watch different styles clash.
All of a sudden there are lots of decent all-court players - at least in the men's game - who are properly competent at net. But no true volleyers like Rafter, Edberg etc.
@@danguee1 what about John McEnroe 🙁🙁🙁 he is best serve and volley player in open era actually he won 3 Wimbledon titles by beating Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors to it
@@kikaa1884 Absolutely true. Mac was the greatest net man ever possibly. But I was referring to a group of more orthodox volleyers. Johnny Mac was a one-off, unorthodox, never to be repeated I don't think.
That slice approach at 6:35 you don't see that anymore... its all about hitting as hard as you can and let poly strings do their magic so that the ball falls in the court.
He was VERY fast on his legs, not just his hands, had A LOT of power, quite good endurance too, and in the second part of his career, he stepped up his physical training quite a bit, and proceeded to win the French in 1999... I think you've been spoiled by the absolutely incredible court coverage of Djokovic and Nadal (or more recently, Alcaraz). Also, Agassi having the best vision allowed him to know when a ball was too far for him immediately, and not expend his energy uselessly running for something he knew he couldn't get. For sure his biggest rival, Sampras, was more athletic, a bit faster and more powerful, and athleticism wasn't his strongest point either, as his other qualities shined more, but Agassi was no slouch. You don't win 8 grand slams, play 7 other slam finals, over a career of nearly 20 years, with a 'lack of overall athleticism'... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Agassi_career_statistics
I wish Rafter had won the two Wimbledon finals he played. He deserved it and was such a talented player. He deserves to be mentioned with the greats but his record just isn't as impressive, overall. Granted, he took long to mature with his type of game so that didn't help him, along with his injuries. I would have loved an era where Rafter and Federer were going head to head, serving and volleying in their matches.
that's not true. the speed of the older 70% rye and the new 100% rye grass is the same. only the new grass has a higher bounce for more consistent rallies. the issue today is they slowed down the balls even more. the older grass also had a high bounce and was a firm surface when it was hot.
@@smftrsddvjiou6443 rafter was an underrated baseliner. he won two US opens and one can't do that without consistent groundstrokes. he wasn't overpowering from the baseline but he was extremely quick and had a fantastic transition game with excellent footwork and also had phenomenal passing shots. you forget he won two five setters with a lot of baseline play vs agassi both on the old and new grass in 2000 and 2001. yes, agassi would have the edge today because of slower balls but rafter would have adjusted though with more difficulty
Oh! Rafter! I remembered this game. We’ve lost serve and volley players like him! I missed him😢 After the retirement of Sampras,I’ve decided not to watch tennis any more.
Some player was Pat Rafter….one of the greatest Serve & Volleyers of all time, just a shame he didn’t manage to win more, because he was a brilliant player, and such a tremendous Athlete! A rollicking nice guy too apparently?
If you are meaning Agassi, Agassi is a much better player than Rafter overall. His overall career stats don't even compare. He's won just as many US opens, except he also won all the other grand slam tournaments, including Wimbledon on what should be Rafter's best surface, winning the final against the guy that Rafter couldn't beat (Ivanisevic) in his own 2nd final... Oh and 4 wins at Rafter's home in Australia... He also has an overall record of 10-5 against specifically Rafter. But I do like Rafter too, he's cool, he's Australian, he has a spectacular style, but he's just not complete enough... His volleys are exceptional but the rest of his game is average at best, including his serve.
Funnily enough, it's probably the loss to Sampras that stings more than the one to Goran. Even though I'm an Aussie and Pat's my favourite Aussie tennis player, I still couldn't hold it against Goran for beating him but Pat had Pete on the ropes. He stole the first set then led the 2nd set tiebreaker 5-1 and Pete wasn't playing as well as he had in the 1st set. 6 straight points to Pete courtesy several Rafter errors. 1 set all. He finds his confidence and dominates the last 2 sets. Sigh.
He lost 8-6 in the 5th to Goran, he had plenty in the tank. There were 2 days off before the final as well. He didn't play as well against Goran, possibly because it was harder to get into rhythm as Goran would just smack it by you or hit it out.
You couldn't gwt any player as good as Rafter serve and volley, the Tennis that most of us enjoyed, not like the long bs rallies that they have now. Best serve and volliers in 80's 90's bfore the BS court change, Mc Enroe, Sampras, Becker, Edberg, Rafter, Cash, the last one Federer. Shame that Rafyer didn't win a Wimbledon, he lost to sampras in the final after this match and the following year to Goran. Couldn't loose to 2 nicwer blokes.
I remember watching this match as a kid at my grandmas house. Still sticks in my mind as the most entertaining game I ever watched. The best serve volleyer vs the best baseliner/returner of their era. Every point was so aggressive. Rarely a long rally most pints were just Rafter blitzing the net and agassi going for passing shot winners.
Man, rafter was something! Favourite player
probably the best serve and vollier, Goran is up there only because he had probably the most unreturnable serve ever in Tennis
@@drfunyc Pat Cash was nearly as good. Won Wimbledon, lost in the AO final 8-6 in the 5'th against Wilander.
These 2 always gave us great matches of volley vs baseline.
I was 12 when Rafter won the 1997 US Open and I fell in love with tennis then and there. Saved up and went to the sports shop and asked for a Pat Rafter racket. Shop keeper asked which one was that and I said the one with a P on it for Pat. Haha
Prince! I did the same thing. I always loved to hit slices and volleys with it.
That’s what I’d call a tennis match! Rafter an amazing volleyer and Agassi a great returner. Notice - very few fist pumps or stare downs. They just went about their business at a very high level. Certainly a classic match.
Two great champions and even better human beings. Great handshake at the en
Interesting that they liked each other, but neither liked Sampras. This match was played in great spirits.
People forget how good Rafter was. One of (if not the best) volleyers ever.
He's definitely top 5.
Yes to me he is better than edburg
Nice watching Agassi going to the net and Rafter hitting groundstrokes.
Rafter was so fun to watch! Too bad that there are not many good serve and volley player nowadays anymore.
I didnt appreciate him when he was playing, but 20 years later, I’m watching Rafter highlights more than any other player from that era
@@johngalt3118 Same. I didn’t watch tennis when he played, but now he’s my favorite player.
@@johngalt3118 I hate serve and volley guys in the 90s but now i love watching them. It's so different and refreshing after not seeing anyone play the net for 20 years now
Very true only slow courts even on grass!! Today!
Saque e Volley foi Batido, hoje em dia tem muito mais trocas de bolas, muito mais Spin e velocidade, Cressy é um jogador atual de saque e voleio mas como não tem variação de jogo se torna limitado.
Man i miss watching S/V vs Baseliner matches most entertaining tennis can't stand the mindless ball bashing baseliners of today
Agree! Agassi/Courier/Chang/Hewitt/Bruguera... vs Edberg/Becker/Ivanisevic/Stich/Rafter...
Such a great time watching those matches! Miss it..
You know nothing about the game. Jealously is a big sin.
The contrasts are always very fun to watch.
@@yousefbhoyroo6960 Really stupid comment.
@@beaglesrfun5896 dumbest comment of the day award.... well done!!!
what a fifth set from rafter. Volley at 25.15 a highlight, as well as the backhand winner soon after.
This match is so beautiful it almost makes me cry.
my favourite tennis player, pat rafter
still give me goosebumps watching his matches.
Rafter deserves a Wimbledon crown, even just one.
Well he had a bad shoulder injury which basically ended his career. Injuries suck!
Rafter.Sensational player
Os jogadores atuais, os únicos que impressionam, são Djokovic e Nadal. Que falta fazem jogadores tipo Rafter, Agassi, Federer.. Não imaginava o qto Rafter era incrível no ataque, no voleio. Hoje não há jogadores deste nivel.
The modern racquets are so powerful that a returner can just plow though the serve/volleyer . Still works at the recreation level.
Rackets have been as powerful now since at least the early or mid 90s (actually lots of pro's use "pro stock" frames, which makes them substantially Less powerful by shifting more weight to the handle and have huge swingweights). Biggest game changers since then have been poly strings (pro's can now hit out very fully and with loads of spin, and not worry about it going long) as well as bigger balls & slower surfaces. All that (and of course better fitness regimes, better diets, etc at top level) has killed off serve and volley at top level
But serve and volley can still be crazy effective at rec level. I, once on a good day of mine, got pretty much blown off the court by a 40+ year old effective serve and volleyer (granted I was a 3.5 up to low 4.0 ntrp)/ Key is to be confident and always get the first serve in (and a good serve)... but of course most people nowadays don't practice or believe in it enough to think serve and volley can actually work
Um... serve-reliant guys have access to the same racquet tech, so....
@@niceguy1774 And can STILL be effective, at the pro level.. Its laziness... A Lost Art ..
tennis has regressed since the 90s
@spirg So with multi-millions at stake, they just can't figure out that it would still be effective on today's tour?
How does that make sense?
People copy what works.
A big serve won't get you as far today as it did then, and that has been a great thing.
Lazy? I didn't realize that there was any argument that those extinct s&v dinosaurs traveled notably less distance over the course of a match than their counterparts today.
Just found your channel this week Jamie! You've got a new sub.
The king of tennis, Pat. What a gorgeous serve and volley...
King of tennis?😂 What? Very bad joke.
I think Agassi would have won probably 3 Wimbledon titles instead of 1 if he had played on the grass and used the balls Wimbledon uses today. This was pretty fast grass.
This is sad its not fast anymore, way too slow on grass , its à shame
My favourite rivalry due to the clash in styles and both Rafter and Agassi were likeable characters too :)
Glad we got to witness the Wimbledon trilogy between them in 1999, 2000 and 2001 (albeit all in the semis, wished there had been 1 final featuring them)
Andre was a tad unlucky in that trilogy. He tore Pat to shreds in 99 and lost the next 2 in 5 setters, he was a break up in the 5th in 2001. Such wonderful tennis to watch.
@@Silk1970 Oh I don't know. Agassi beat Rafter in the AO semis, but Rafter beat Agassi in the US Open 4'th round 1997. They were both great and each had their wins.
nice edits I like seeing the entire service motion some highlights cut pff the serve
Rafter one if my all time favorite tennis players! One of the best volleyers in tennis history! A shame he never won Wimbledon! He should have two!! At the very least!
I haven't seen a good volley in 15 years
Right? It's so cool that they put these old matches up for us to watch. I hated serve and volley players in the 90s but now i love watching Rafter, Henman, Edberg (especially), and even Sampras. It's just fun to watch different styles clash.
All of a sudden there are lots of decent all-court players - at least in the men's game - who are properly competent at net. But no true volleyers like Rafter, Edberg etc.
@@danguee1 what about John McEnroe 🙁🙁🙁 he is best serve and volley player in open era actually he won 3 Wimbledon titles by beating Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors to it
@@kikaa1884 Absolutely true. Mac was the greatest net man ever possibly. But I was referring to a group of more orthodox volleyers. Johnny Mac was a one-off, unorthodox, never to be repeated I don't think.
That slice approach at 6:35 you don't see that anymore... its all about hitting as hard as you can and let poly strings do their magic so that the ball falls in the court.
The players these days have super slow conditions with poly strings and get 0 reward for positive tennis its shit boring to watch
Incredible how Agassi’s reflexes, feints and steady hands made up for his lack of overall athleticism.
Agassi a very good athlet too
You kidding, Agassi moved like a cat and has one of the best backhands in tennis. He did not have a big serve, he had to earn every point.
He was VERY fast on his legs, not just his hands, had A LOT of power, quite good endurance too, and in the second part of his career, he stepped up his physical training quite a bit, and proceeded to win the French in 1999... I think you've been spoiled by the absolutely incredible court coverage of Djokovic and Nadal (or more recently, Alcaraz). Also, Agassi having the best vision allowed him to know when a ball was too far for him immediately, and not expend his energy uselessly running for something he knew he couldn't get. For sure his biggest rival, Sampras, was more athletic, a bit faster and more powerful, and athleticism wasn't his strongest point either, as his other qualities shined more, but Agassi was no slouch. You don't win 8 grand slams, play 7 other slam finals, over a career of nearly 20 years, with a 'lack of overall athleticism'...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Agassi_career_statistics
Andre Agassi started playing best after he is stopped wearing wig
He won 6 major titles after he stopped wearing wig
@@kikaa1884 True, but he was the last bald player to win a slam.
So incredible!!
One of best tennis match in Wimbledon history
Great match from Rafter!
The Pat Rafter's prime it was incredible
Sometimes I think, Rafter had a better volley game than Edberg.
Close, but no cigar. Edberg's volleys are definitely better for mine.
I think he definitely had the better half volley.
I wish Rafter had won the two Wimbledon finals he played. He deserved it and was such a talented player. He deserves to be mentioned with the greats but his record just isn't as impressive, overall. Granted, he took long to mature with his type of game so that didn't help him, along with his injuries. I would have loved an era where Rafter and Federer were going head to head, serving and volleying in their matches.
roland garros 1999 - rafter x federer . rafter venceu
If Rafter won both then Goran would have lost 4 Wimbledon finals, and he deserved to win one as well.
@ I never said Gorman didn’t deserve a title. He should have won one of the other three finals.
@@senorgato70 Yeah Rafter could have won his against Sampras and Goran could have won his two against Sampras, Sampras didn't deserve them!
Y avait beaucoup de grand joueur avant merci a eux d avoir fais la concurrence a Sampras et Agassi
Pat Rafter...my favourite player to watch after Rod Laver. First class.
Wasn’t he awesome
@@sandyproctor4901 yes, sensational.
Pat Rafter looks giant but he is just
6ft 1 inches tall like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
I watched this match live and was glad that Andre lost because I didn't want to see him lose yet another grand slam final to Sampras.
Just tells you how amazingly good Sampras was to be able to beat this Rafter while injured himself.
Now this really WAS great Tennis….plenty of variety of shots, not just endless slogging away from the Baseline like today’s Robots!!
Huge fan of Pat rafter here
Sad that no Rafter type of players are in today’s game. Now it is hit from the baseline and if that doesn’t work lose.
That overly-serve reliant style went extinct for a reason.
Maxime cressy does it
that's not true. the speed of the older 70% rye and the new 100% rye grass is the same. only the new grass has a higher bounce for more consistent rallies. the issue today is they slowed down the balls even more. the older grass also had a high bounce and was a firm surface when it was hot.
Today Rafter would not play S&V. The angles of the todays returns are insane.
@@smftrsddvjiou6443 rafter was an underrated baseliner. he won two US opens and one can't do that without consistent groundstrokes. he wasn't overpowering from the baseline but he was extremely quick and had a fantastic transition game with excellent footwork and also had phenomenal passing shots.
you forget he won two five setters with a lot of baseline play vs agassi both on the old and new grass in 2000 and 2001. yes, agassi would have the edge today because of slower balls but rafter would have adjusted though with more difficulty
Edberg and Rafter....2 of my absolute favorites....S/V!!!!!
Pat cash was good sv also
Bellísimo partido. Muy "humano" Rafter. Como también lo ha sido Agassi.
4:00 ridiculous backhand half volley
You'll never see a better one! 🙂
Pat is the GOAT of kick serves
Was that a one-handed BH scoop/bunt from Agassi @8:18?
@Eato Rade I had only ever seen similar shots from Tsonga and Hingis, so it was a surprise for me.
Not discounting Hewitt's increasing maturity through the years but Patrick seems to me to be the last of the great Australian gentleman in tennis.
Incredible level
Oh! Rafter! I remembered this game. We’ve lost serve and volley players like him! I missed him😢 After the retirement of Sampras,I’ve decided not to watch tennis any more.
Some player was Pat Rafter….one of the greatest Serve & Volleyers of all time, just a shame he didn’t manage to win more, because he was a brilliant player, and such a tremendous Athlete!
A rollicking nice guy too apparently?
7:58 The reason Rafter lost this point is he forgot to epically exhale on the last few shots.
If the courts were the same as they are today, Agassi would have won Wimbledon several times.
9:18 10:15 13:11 14:13 15:10 18:38 20:10 20:20 21:56
Rafter was a much better player then the bad boy.
He win two majors, he had played a great final with Sampras at winbleton
Who is "the bad boy"?
@@hehehehehahahaha2025 Agassi I'm assuming
If you are meaning Agassi, Agassi is a much better player than Rafter overall. His overall career stats don't even compare. He's won just as many US opens, except he also won all the other grand slam tournaments, including Wimbledon on what should be Rafter's best surface, winning the final against the guy that Rafter couldn't beat (Ivanisevic) in his own 2nd final... Oh and 4 wins at Rafter's home in Australia... He also has an overall record of 10-5 against specifically Rafter.
But I do like Rafter too, he's cool, he's Australian, he has a spectacular style, but he's just not complete enough... His volleys are exceptional but the rest of his game is average at best, including his serve.
Yeah he completed career grandslam in open era he is 2nd player to do that in open era after Rod laver OK
Funnily enough, it's probably the loss to Sampras that stings more than the one to Goran. Even though I'm an Aussie and Pat's my favourite Aussie tennis player, I still couldn't hold it against Goran for beating him but Pat had Pete on the ropes. He stole the first set then led the 2nd set tiebreaker 5-1 and Pete wasn't playing as well as he had in the 1st set. 6 straight points to Pete courtesy several Rafter errors. 1 set all. He finds his confidence and dominates the last 2 sets. Sigh.
カッコイイ！
pat rafter makes me doubt of my super heterosexuality.
SV tennis from Rafter on the best surface how it should be played just terrific sensational fantastic
Played his best against Andre, nothing left in the tank, against Goran well not much
He lost 8-6 in the 5th to Goran, he had plenty in the tank. There were 2 days off before the final as well. He didn't play as well against Goran, possibly because it was harder to get into rhythm as Goran would just smack it by you or hit it out.
You couldn't gwt any player as good as Rafter serve and volley, the Tennis that most of us enjoyed, not like the long bs rallies that they have now. Best serve and volliers in 80's 90's bfore the BS court change, Mc Enroe, Sampras, Becker, Edberg, Rafter, Cash, the last one Federer. Shame that Rafyer didn't win a Wimbledon, he lost to sampras in the final after this match and the following year to Goran. Couldn't loose to 2 nicwer blokes.