Pat Rafter did not get along with every player during his tenure as Australia’s Davis Cup captain.
Rafter is a former world number one and two-time US Open champion, who officially confirmed his retirement from tennis in 2003.
The Australian is now 52 years old, with Rafter taking the role as Team World vice-captain for the first time at the Laver Cup this year.
Rafter, who is working alongside Team World captain Andre Agassi, also captained Australia at the Davis Cup until 10 years ago.
Photo by John Berry/Getty ImagesPat Rafter suggests he found it difficult to talk to Nick Kyrgios as Davis Cup captain
Rafter has coached Joao Fonseca, Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz at the Laver Cup, and he has been full of praise for how the Team World players have responded to him.
When speaking on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, Rafter admitted that he has been more invested in the Laver Cup than he expected to be.
Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Laver Cup
Rafter also captained Australia in the Davis Cup between October 2010 and January 2015, and he has explained that not every player was as respondent during that time.
“What was totally unexpected for me was just the total and utter engagement of these players and how much this is so important to them,” said Rafter. “Oh, I’m loving it. I get actually pins and needles thinking about it, because I was trying to buy into the event sometimes too.
“How does it sit in the calendar? How does this sit in with these guys playing 52 weeks a year travelling around the world, you know thinking come the Laver Cup, what does it mean to them? It means a lot. They have really invested.
“So, every time these guys go on the court, they’re playing for their team and they really feel it. The passion’s there, Andre [Agassi] and I are super pumped and I’m actually a little bit surprised at how much I am into it. I’m getting off the seat quite a bit, in Davis Cup, when I was Davis Cup captain I think I sat there like a zombie for four years, just went ‘yeah, no worries’. But I’m so into this and it allows it to happen too, the interaction part of it.
“What I was hoping for which might not necessarily be a surprise, but and it was probably more hope, I guess, was the fact that these guys are really willing to learn. Some people you can’t talk to, you get into the Davis Cup, I know with my guys.”
When making this suggestion, Roddick pushed Rafter to name the player or players he was referring to.
Despite appearing hesitant at first, Rafter then decided to name Nick Kyrgios, who Roddick has also had conflict with.
“Alright, your buddy Nick…so I can relate to Andy’s stance on Nick a bit,” replied Rafter. “I’m enjoying the camaraderie of the team, I’m really enjoying the buy in, the different personalities all coming together for a common goal of winning for Team World and what you are getting out there is real guys.
“The results may not always go our way or your way or whatever it might be, but I can tell you 100% is genuine and the guys are busting a** to get the best result out there they can and we’re loving it.”
Kyrgios would have been a teenager when he played under the watchful eye of Rafter, and he had mixed results in the Davis Cup during that time.
Although they did not always appear to see eye-to-eye, Kyrgios won 60% of his singles matches under Rafter’s guidance at the Davis Cup.
Nick Kyrgios at the Davis Cup when Pat Rafter was captainSingles Win-loss Record3-2 (60%)Doubles Win-loss Record0-1 (0%)Overall Win-loss Record3-3 (50%)Why did Pat Rafter once call for Nick Kyrgios to be banned from tennis?
Not only did Kyrgios not appear to cooperate with Rafter, at least according to his own version of events, but a feud appeared to begin years after he left his role as Davis Cup captain.
In 2019, after Kyrgios was fined $113,000 following an outburst at the Cincinnati Open, where he used expletive language at the chair umpire, smashed two rackets, leading to him calling the ATP Tour ‘pretty corrupt’ weeks later at the US Open.
This led to an investigation into Kyrgios’ behaviour and speculation over whether he would be banned from the sport, something that Rafter claimed should have happened.
“I don’t understand why it hasn’t happened,” Rafter told the Sydney Morning Herald at the time. “There is obviously something else going on behind the scenes. I don’t know. On paper it looks like he should be suspended, to me.”
Kyrgios did not take these comments lying down, and responded to Rafter with a sarcastic message on social media.
He wrote on X (known as Twitter at the time), “Probably because everywhere I play the stadiums are sold out, and the event makes money with me around? Not surprised rafter has commented on this topic, guy loves hanging fellow Aussies out to dry. Enjoy staying relevant champ.”
Probably because everywhere I play the stadiums are sold out, and the event makes money with me around? Not surprised rafter has commented on this topic, guy loves hanging fellow aussies out to dry. Enjoy staying relevant champ ☺️
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) September 17, 2019
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Kyrgios was never banned from tennis, and while they do not appear to be best of friends by any stretch of the imagination, it appears that his relationship with Rafter has mended slightly.
Last year, Kyrgios responded to a prediction Rafter made about him by claiming it was the nicest thing he had ever said about him.