Pat Rafter finally reveals what he said to a ‘soft’ Roger Federer when he played him for the first time in 1999

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Roger Federer dominated tennis in the 2000s, taking home a mouth-watering 15 Grand Slam titles during the decade.

The legendary Swiss star broke through to win his first Major at Wimbledon in 2003 and never looked back, winning 19 more over the next 15 years.

Federer was a class above between 2004 and 2008, holding the number one ranking for a record 237 consecutive weeks, winning 12 of the available 20 Grand Slam titles.

He wasn’t always that dominant, however, as the 43-year-old once struggled with one key part of his game during the early stages of his career.

A former ATP world number one now reveals what happened when he played Federer for the first time in 1999 and explains how he exploited the 20-time Major champion’s biggest weakness.

Pat Rafter says he shouted ‘come on’ at a ‘soft’ Roger Federer when they first played 26 years ago

Making his French Open debut at just 17 years of age, Federer took on two-time Grand Slam champion Pat Rafter in the first round.

Speaking to the ATP Tour for their YouTube channel, Rafter has now revealed what happened in their first career meeting.

“Roger Federer came on the scene in ’99, and I got to play him; he got a Wild Card I think,” he said.

“He came on, and he beat me the first set 7-5. I was like, ‘You punk!’.

“I was trying to work out how I was going to get through to him as well, and I got off in the second set, and then he might have done a double [fault] or I won a big point and I just got in his face and went ‘Come on!’.

“He sort of melted a little bit. He was a little soft at that stage.”

Rafter went on to win in four sets, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2, securing the first of his three victories against Federer.

• 1999 French Open 1R – Pat Rafter beat Roger Federer, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2
• 2001 Miami Open QF – Pat Rafter beat Roger Federer, 6-3, 6-1
• 2001 Halle QF – Pat Rafter beat Roger Federer, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6

The Australian never lost to Federer and was glad to have retired from the sport before the Swiss star hit his prime years.

“You know, once he sorted that part of his game out, oh my god, it was such a good time [for me] to leave the game,” said Rafter.

“He wanted me to stay so he could start beating me, and I was just trying to get out of the game as quickly as I could.”

Rafter played his last match in 2001 before retiring in 2003 as one of the few players to have never lost to Federer on the ATP Tour.

Pat Rafter names the player he never wanted to play against on the ATP Tour

In total, Rafter played 549 singles matches as a professional tennis player, and no doubt enjoyed the vast majority of them.

Four of those contests, however, came against a particular player, who Rafter now admits he never wanted to play.

“I was nine years older than Lleyton [Hewitt] as well, I mean, he was this baby that came along on tour,” said Rafter.

“I remember he came to Davis Cup at 15, and when playing points with him, he’s chopping me.

“I’m going, ‘This is not right, he’s a little kid, he can hardly serve’, but by god he just knew how to play the game.

“He kept pushing you to be better.

“When he was on tour, I didn’t want to see him anywhere near my draw, and when I did, I was hoping he wouldn’t get through because I didn’t want to play him.”

Hewitt enjoyed the better of his four career meetings with Rafter, winning the head-to-head, 3-1.

Rafter and Hewitt’s journey didn’t end in 2001 when they last took to the court against one another, as they joined forces in doubles 13 years later, when the former made a brief comeback from retirement.

Competing at the Australian Open for the first time in ten years, Rafter fell to a convincing defeat alongside Hewitt in their opening match.

Hewitt retired from tennis six years later, as the current crop of Australian stars now look to repeat the Grand Slam heroics of the nation’s two most recent ATP Major champions.

The likes of Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin and Nick Kyrgios will head to the French Open in May in search of Slam success.