Davis Cup99 Semi - by Deb Mackey
Tuesday, 28-Sep-1999
...DC players Party...
After the most wonderful day'S tennis (which will be covered blow by blow in PR Update) we went back to our rooms and collapsed on our beds from sheer exhaustion – it was a very emotional day for all of us. I don't know whether I can put into words what this victory means to us. We've been waiting for this for a long while now and to get to a DC final without our top guns available was something very special – we'll never see a tie like this one again. It had everything, suspense, drama, controversy, sheer unbridled passion and joy and the most wonderful group spirit you could ever imagine possible. The road to this victory for our Captain, Coach and players has been a pretty rocky one and to see their dream fulfilled is just wonderful. Congrats boys and good luck in France.
Now, on to the party!
Darren (the bugler from the Fanatics) had said the boys would be arriving at the Adrenalin Bar about 11 pm that night so we knew we had a few hours to recharge our batteries but I'd been battling the flu all week and felt awful so I was thinking of giving it a miss and going to bed – Robyn made me go and I'll be indebted to her for life. Thanks Rob. Mandy just couldn’t make it. She was stiff and sore after her accident and needed to rest.
We arrived at the Sports Bar about 10 pm, it was full of Fanatics, friends and family of the team members, and a few Americans who didn't know what the Davis Cup was but sat and watched proceedings with a bemused look on their face. The Bar had a roped off area where the team and family would go and most of the Rafters were already there, well and truly enjoying themselves – all the boys and Louise and Maree, I'm not sure if anyone saw Theresa.
The boys arrived about 10 minutes after us. They walked in to cheers and clapping (or cleers and chapping as Robyn would say) and Patrick suddenly realised he was at the front so he quickly dropped back to let Lleyton and Wayne take their starring roles. He needn't have bothered; the TV cameras were well and truly fixed on him. He was trying to look inconspicuous in this dimly lit sports bar when suddenly two TV news crews lit him up like a Christmas tree – there are moments when you feel really sorry for this young man. People were clamouring over him and shoving all sorts of things in his face to sign; he was getting a little agitated. He was polite and dealt with all the requests like he always does but you couldn't miss the fact that he just wanted to get to his little corner as quickly as possibly to be with his mates and celebrate. I didn't know how many opportunities we would have that evening so I took a deep breath, touched him on the arm and asked him if he would pose for a photo. He crinkled up his nose and smiled and said “not right now, I've had enough for a while". I said, “I know you have Pat, just thought we could get one with Rob". He stopped and turned around and said “oh, ok with Robyn”. So, he posed with Robyn and my flash played up and the bloody people behind me wouldn't get back so I was too close but I thanked him for his patience with that pic, he's a legend. I hope it's a good one.
Pat disappeared then and completely cocooned himself in the middle of the team with his brothers and security keeping everyone at bay. He needed that. It was only crazy like this for a little while. People settled down pretty quickly and let the boys be themselves. Belinda couldn't get her chair much past the men's loos so she positioned herself at a table near there and I think she saw more action in and around those men's loos than the rest of us put together – she'll tell you her story.
The boys celebrated as only sportsmen who've given their all can. It was hilarious, just young guys loving every moment of their success. Dancing, singing, hurling each other around and generally having a ball. They were completely uninhibited and obviously adore each other's company. Most of the time they were locked in embraces, Newk and Pat clung on to each other like two old mates about to be separated forever. Newk gets more and more affectionate with each beer and he loves these boys like there were his own and makes sure they know it. Roche was in great form too.
Pat was a different boy within the hour. The TV cameras had gone and the chicks in boob tubes and shorts (who thought they might get lucky) realised it was no place for them and took off so it was full of people who knew about tennis, knew about the team and knew about what this achievement meant. Pat had surrounded himself with his mates and was relaxed and laughing and thoroughly enjoying himself. It was great to see. He got behind the bar and was happy to serve drinks for an hour or so, mixing all sorts of concoctions for his team-mates and “helping” them drink them, he has lots of ‘bar games’ that boy! Woz kept everything going with outbreaks of chants and songs, Lleyton's match was being beamed around the walls and the energy in the room was awesome.
We had several snippets of conversations with the boys throughout the evening, with Newk, Roche, Sandon, Mark, Lleyton, Wayne, Muddy and, of course, Patrick. Our girls had everything signed they could lay their hands on – I tried to con the boys into posing for happy snaps with Bee, Rob and Peta early on with varying degrees of success – Lleyton was probably the most elusive, he was still running on adrenalin, so pumped and proud and excited – just like you'd expect an 18 year old to be. We left the boys to party and had a few drinks and just enjoyed watching the whole spectacle – watching Pat concentrate while he was mixing these drinks was a sight to behold. He hadn’t had that much to drink himself, he was drinking plenty of water but the concentration on his face while he was mixing these drinks was so intense – he obviously takes all his jobs seriously!
About 1 am it became a lot easier to move around. Lots of Fanatics were still there, lots of Rafters, all the team and not too many 'hangers on’ which was good. I'm not managing to get everything that happened down in the correct order because a lot of it happened at the same time so forgive me if it's a bit difficult to follow. I'm doing my best on a few hours sleep.
Lleyton and Newk left around 1.30 am I think. And David and Michael Rafter left soon after that. They both had a BIG night. Michael is cute as a button, has Pat's athletic build but is very much smaller, David looks about 12, he has a really young face, he was there with his girlfriend.
All the boys came over to Belinda throughout the evening to sign her shirt and generally have a chat. While I was having a quiet drink with her we were visited by Mark Waters (Muddy), Pat's personal trainer and trainer to the DC team. He pointed to her and said “I know you”, “I've got a photo of you in my hotel room”. This network of friends that we've developed is amazing. Robyn had sent Mandy Rump a pic of Pat and Belinda together at the “Oz Open” asking Mandy to take it with her to Europe to see if she could get it signed by Pat as a surprise for Belinda. Somehow the pic had ended up with Muddy. He said he hates asking Pat to do stuff like that – so he just kept it in his work gear all this time. Pat was signing some stuff for Charity the other day so Muddy slipped the pic in with the pile and Pat signed it. We talked about how we'd get the pic to Belinda and we agreed that he'd leave it at reception at his hotel and we'd pick it up on our way to the airport the next day. I wasn't so sure he'd remember, he hadn't had much to drink but it was such a big night that I thought he might forget but when we got there, he'd left it as arranged. I wrote him a thank you letter and left it for him. Lovely man. A real gentleman. I asked him about Pat's shoulder and his eyes lit up and said the tear has healed completely and that Pat's got almost all his strength back in the shoulder, he'd be serving for short periods this week and would be in full training by the end of the month. He would play Stockholm and Paris and then they'd try to find a clay court to do something on for the two weeks prior to the DC. All indications are that it could well be Pat and Lleyton in the singles. No one is going to leave a fully fit Pat Rafter out of a DC tie and Lleyton has earned his spot – his DC record is 4 – 0 and he's beaten the No 4 and No 2 player in the world to earn those wins. This unit is so tight. It was so obvious at the party. They adore each other. They're in this together. They're on a mission together and they've shared it now for 6 years. Muddy suggested that Wayne may go to France even if he doesn't play, because Wayne's now experienced the ultimate in team spirit and deserves to experience the conclusion – Newk later mentioned that there might be a spot for Wayne in the doubles depending on everyone's form at the time. Mark Philippoussis' name was mentioned several times but no one had heard from him so no one knew when he was going to resume playing.
Muddy said that Patrick and he had been getting up at 7 am every morning since his withdrawal from the US Open and training 3 – 4 hours every day. He said that Pat was in the best shape of his life. I think we'd all agree with that! He looks terrific, so trim and fit. He looks to me like he's lost weight, and beefed up a little in the shoulder/chest area but it's more probably just a little redistribution. Even his mum had told us the day before that he was training so hard. Pat's inspired at the moment; the possibility of playing in a Davis Cup final is driving him.
Muddy also spoke about how tough it is for a dad such as himself to leave his youngster to be with Pat and the DC team for 30 weeks of the year. He said they come with him when they can but it's not always possible. He was looking forward to staying in Brisbane to work with Pat over the next few weeks. Belinda and I were really impressed with Muddy. He must have sat at the table with us chatting away for over half an hour. I think Shirley was there too at the time and Robyn had joined us mid-way through. To the girls who were there, forgive me if I've got it wrong and left someone out. It's hard to remember everything and everyone's whereabouts – it's a pretty big club and I'm a very old person so forgive me.
There were lots of highlights of the night but undoubtedly the best was saved until last. We were all getting a bit weary and Belinda wasn't looking very well so I suggested that we think about heading off – I also thought it was time that everyone buggered off to leave the boys alone – it was about 2.30 am I think. Peta said she'd go and tell Pat that we were leaving and he came out to say goodbye. He crouched down in between Belinda's chair and mine and supported himself on my shoulder (I think I'll have a plaster cast made and preserve it forever) and he sat there happily chatting for ages. It was wonderful to just have him sitting there joining in our conversation as if we'd all been mates for years. He talked about all sorts of things; about his life, his family, the team, other players and some other stuff that really isn't for sharing on a public board. They were his opinions and we all feel really honoured that he felt comfortable enough with us that he'd share things that are obviously very close to his heart. I'm sure you'd all agree that this is not the place to share those.
Robyn asked him if he remembered to see his mum on her birthday. (Just as an aside - we'd seen Jocelyn on her birthday and Robyn had given her a big kiss and cuddle and wished her well and Jocelyn said she didn't know if she'd see Pat, she was saying that she hasn't seen much of him at all and joked with us that she would have to line up at the Fanfest signing to get her son to sign the DC t-shirts that she and Louise had just bought to auction off.) We all stirred Pat about not seeing his mum on her birthday and he responded exactly like you'd expect a son to respond, he protested his innocence telling us that he did see her and called her naughty for spreading rumours. He rolled his eyes and said “what am I suppose to do” with that look that every mum knows – the one that says “I try my hardest and it’s never enough” (he didn't say that, of course, but it's what he meant!)
I'm going to say a few things now that concern Belinda. I hope it won't embarrass her, if it does Bee, I'm truly sorry, but this is such a wonderful story that it really needs to be said. Belinda posted many months back that she is in a wheelchair so you all know that. All the DC boys are very aware of Belinda and Robyn, most even know their names (oooh, NEWS FLASH: Pat called me Deb once and I stopped talking because I didn't think I heard right!!!!! – this has nothing to do with the story whatsoever but I had to get it in! of course, the music was loud and I am half deaf and he may have said ded, geb or beb I guess but I don't want to think about that). All the boys are truly supportive and appreciative of the work that Robyn does but they all hold Bee in a very special place in their hearts (as we all do). Newk especially makes a great big fuss over her (she'll tell you all about it I hope – are you going to tell them how Lleyton signed your t-shirt, Bee???? Are you going to tell them what Pat bought you???? Hmmmm???? Are you going to tell them about Newk's motivational speech he gave you??? Hmmm???). Because these boys of ours are all normal, wonderful human beings, they have some idea of the effort it takes for Belinda to get to tournaments and to support them. It's not easy for her. Robyn and I just hop on a plane or walk up thirty stairs to the Sport Club, for Belinda it's not so easy, everything takes much more effort and it takes its toll on her. Just getting into the club was hard enough and Bee did it twice. She had to wait with security until others were available to carry her chair up – she was, by the way, carried up by four gorgeous hunks! I'm mentioning this only to remind everyone of how much harder it is for Bee to involve herself in all the things that we involve ourselves in. And Pat knows this too. He sees her at his matches and at his practice sessions and he knows how hard she has worked to get there. He cares very deeply about her and shows genuine concern about her welfare. He asked me quietly whether she was ok (Bee was looking pale and tired by this time, it had been a very long, hot three days). I told Pat that she was tired, that she had to be taken to the first aid tent the day before when we had waited for him to sign her shirt at the Fanfest – the tent was very stuffy and humid and it took its toll. He was really concerned. He understands what it takes for us to remain together as a group and he said so – I can't share exactly what he said because I would feel awkward about that but the gist was that he knows how much trouble he is and he acknowledges and appreciates the workload we all share. He's just such a deeply caring young man. It is impossible not to love this man.
Robyn wanted to ask Pat something about oncourt.com, which had been worrying her for a few days, and before she even got her question out, Pat said “oncourt.com, what's that”? He didn't even know the name of his website! Cute eh? We said “that's patrafter.com”. He raised his eyebrows and said really excitedly “have I got a website called patrafter.com, wow”. He was so excited, it was like as if he suddenly realised “hey, I must be famous”. He said, “is that the Liberty One thing”? We said yes. He hasn't got into this computer stuff guys. He spent a while convincing us that he has no idea of what he's doing on a computer. He doesn't use one, doesn't use e-mail, wouldn't know how, and isn't interested. He said “if I just type in planetrafter.com.au will I get there?” We had to say it was a bit harder than that, we said go to your own site and you can get to Robyn's via that. I wouldn't hold my breath though people, computers don't interest this boy one bit. Peta told him that she had a website devoted to his shorts and gave him the full name of it, Pat said cheekily “so I just type that in and add. Dot com dot au??? He thought that was really funny. He said (about the shorts site) “you girls are really crazy”.
I asked him about his shoulder and he said he was really pleased, it was coming on faster than he expected and he would step up training now. He signed something for someone at the table (sorry I can't remember who or what - take pity on me guys I had the world’s sexiest athlete's hand on my shoulder, it was difficult to concentrate) and I said “you’re doing well to be able to write – you've had a big night” he grinned and looked at his watch and said “It's only 2.30 it's not a big night yet”. He hesitated before he began writing his name and I prompted him with a “P A T”…… he gave me this sideways look that said “smartarse, I know it's P A T, I just can't remember what comes after that”, he was in a wonderful mood and lots of fun to be with.
Robyn stood up then and came around the table to where Pat was and he stood up too, she said “It's my birthday on Wednesday, I'll be 49, don't you think I should have a kiss for my birthday” and Pat said “wow, 49” and gave her a big cuddle and kiss, it was lovely. He hung on for a while too, it was his way of saying thank you to Robyn for all the work he knows she does. When she finally let him go (we thought we were going to have to call for the jaws of life) I said to Pat “Patrick, we all have birthdays you know” (meaning, where was our kiss?) he screwed up his face and laughed. We all stood up to go and I held out my hand to shake his and gave him a kiss on the cheek. That opened the floodgates and he was lucky to escape – he was “cheeked” by everyone. Shirley tried the old “In Holland it's customary to kiss three times”!!! Yeah, right Shirley! Pat said “yeah, I know and braced himself”!!!
We were all pretty pleased with our “cheeky kisses” but none came close to the bear hug that Robyn got – you gotta hate that woman. Something very strange has come over our Rob. Earlier in the night Patrick had asked her for her mobile number, he was going to call her about a couple of things she'd asked him about. Have a guess what Robyn's response was?? Have a guess. I'll send a Tassie apple to the person who gets it right.
Robyn's response?
She said “hang on a minute Pat, I just want to get Lleyton's autograph first”. Do you know what Pat said? He said “oh, ok”. Pat Rafter had asked her for her mobile number and she said “just wait”. The only thing I could think of was that we'd been out in the sun for three days. When she finally gave it to him, he looked at it and screwed up his face and said “is that a three?” and she said in a great big voice “of course it's a three”, it was like listening to a mum telling her son to pay closer attention. Pat was suitably chastised and went off to sulk with his friends. It was wonderful stuff. Pat thinks our Robyn is pretty wonderful. It's about time he found out!
Pat's my hero. I felt like I really got to know my hero this weekend and he didn't let me down. He's such a good person. A warm and loving human being. When he talks to you his eyes never leave you, he's completely focused on what you are saying, he's very tactile, he touches you as he speaks, his hands go to your shoulder or he'll touch your hand or wrist to tell you something, he's always moving toward you, never away. He's so animated and lively – there was no sign of that monotone voice and the super cool laid back style we see doing the post match interviews, his eyes are alive with excitement and he laughs heartily at everything. The way he interacts with everyone is incredible. He's so gentle with women. He's such a boy with his mates. He's different again with his brothers – there was a wonderful bit of rough-play between Peter and Pat about whether Pat had been to see Belinda during the night, it was very funny, Peter was having a go at him for neglecting Bee and told him so with a barrage of insults and abuse, and he got a barrage back, it was just so typical of brothers. When Pat talks to his mates, his arms are wrapped around them, he has no fear of holding them close, he loves them. There was a girl there who was obviously a close friend of the family's or maybe a relative. He swung her up in the air and hugged her tight before she left. He's an open book. What you see is exactly what you get. There's no pretense with this man. He's a legend.
Deb