Patrick Rafter of Australia lunges for a volley on his way to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands in the final of the du Maurier Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Sunday, Aug. 9, 1998. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rafter cruises in du Maurier

Web posted August 10, 1998

Associated Press

TORONTO -- Patrick Rafter became the first player in 10 years to win the du Maurier Open without losing a set when he beat Richard Krajicek 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 Sunday.

The 25-year-old Australian had a clean slate in five matches, matching Ivan Lendl's feat accomplished in 1988.

Krajicek, who had victories in six of seven matches against Rafter entering the final, had lived by the serve and volley in his previous matches against Rafter. Krajicek entered the final leading the entire du Maurier field with 64 aces but was limited to dealing 10 to Rafter, putting only 59 percent of first serves in play.

``I couldn't punish him on my serve,'' Krajicek said. ``That's a shame.''

Both players held serve their first six times in the first set, setting up the tiebreaker, where Krajicek began to struggle. Rafter scored minibreaks all three times Krajicek missed his first serve to take the tiebreaker 7-3.

The Dutchman also struggled on his groundstrokes. His weak backhand seldom cleared the net and his forehand, usually a terror to opposing players, faded as well.

``He really destroys me a lot with that forehand and the times that I did go there I got lucky on them,'' Rafter said. ``I went there at the right times.''

Said Krajicek: ``I count on my forehand more and it really let me down.''

Krajicek broke Rafter to go up 3-1 in the second set, but he lost his serve the very next game with two consecutive double-faults that gave Rafter a break. Rafter broke Krajicek again for a 4-3 lead and the two players traded holds to give Rafter a 5-4 lead. Rafter then held at love to win the set 6-4.

``He was mixing up his serve pretty good,'' Krajicek said. ``He was all over the place, quick and slow, and it made it a lot tougher for me.''

Rafter, who defends his U.S. Open title in a few weeks, earned $361,000 and will move from fifth to third in the ATP world rankings Monday. He also became the first Australian to win this event since John Newcombe in 1971, two years before Rafter was born.

Krajicek received $190,000.