Pat Rafter: The Former World #1 Tennis Champion - Ep. 10

Watch how the sporting legend rose to the top of international tennis and captured the imagination of fans around the world. Specifically, learn how his skills of self-promotion and managing the media played a role in his life and how this thread was understood by every icon we meet in the groundbreaking series.

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► About Pat Rafter
Pat Rafter is one of Australia’s most loved sports stars. A former world number one tennis player, he won 11 career singles titles including two US Opens and a Davis Cup. He also won 10 doubles titles including the Australian Open and earnt over $12 million in total career prize money. Since retiring, he’s been named Australian of the Year, inducted into the International Tennis and Sport Australia halls of fame, coached Australia’s Davis Cup team and had centre court of the Queensland Tennis Centre named in his honour.

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► Background to the Episode
Having locked horns with the feminist writer, Germaine Greer, in Melbourne, Jack and I headed off to Bondi Beach in Sydney for our last interview of the series with Pat. We wanted to not only explore how he rose to the top of the sport, but to also learn how he’s won the hearts and minds of people around the world.

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► About The Thread
Two mates sit down with 10 iconic Australians to figure out how they broke away from the pack. Hugh and Jack seek out leaders of wide-ranging fields: adventure, sport, business, philanthropy, medicine, law and literature to uncover the common thread that binds them.

The interview subjects are household names famed for remarkable and well-told stories, but rarely have they been asked how they did it, how they define success and whether anyone can do what they've done.

Armed with meticulous research and uncomfortably simple questions, we elicit intriguing, inspiring and often unexpected insights from an eclectic bunch of trailblazers.

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► Questions we Ask Pat Rafter
1. 1:52 Righto Pat, what motivated you as a tennis player?

2. 2:22 As a younger player, just say 16 or 17, were you motivated to make a name for yourself?

3. 3:29 Where has your family held you back as a tennis player and where have they helped you along?

4. 5:42 How important were other people in your life to your success and why were they important?

5. 6:10 You dedicated your 1998 US Open victory to Tony Roche, could you have done it without him?

6. 7:35 How did you handle setbacks in your career?

7. 7:48 Do you have to be obsessive about what you are doing to be successful?

8. 10:47 And Pat, you're one of Australia's most loved sportsmen. Have you found the public life rewarding?

Check out the other 9 episodes here: https://goo.gl/uQDYfu