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Patrick Rafter has been announced as the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame inductee for 2008.

He will be inducted in a special ceremony on Rod Laver Arena on Australia Day (Saturday, January 26), when a bronze bust will be unveiled in front of the crowd.

The bust will later be installed alongside the other greats of Australian tennis in Garden Square at Melbourne Park.

Born in Mount Isa, Queensland, on December 28, 1972, Rafter began playing tennis at the age of five and turned pro at 19 in 1991.

He won back-to-back US Open titles in 1997–98, the first Australian to do so since Neale Fraser in 1959–60. He finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 2000 to Pete Sampras and in 2001 to Goran Ivanisevic.

In total, Rafter won 11 singles titles and reached 14 finals. He achieved the world No.1 ranking on July 26, 1999.

In doubles, he won 10 titles including Australian Open 1999 (with Swede Jonas Bjorkman) and finished runner-up at eight more tournaments. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of No.6 on February 1, 1999.

Rafter was a passionate Davis Cup player for Australia. He represented his country in 18 ties from 1994 to 2001, compiling a 21–11 win-loss record, with an 18–10 record in singles and 3–1 in doubles.

Renowned for his sportsmanship, he received numerous awards during his career, including the ATP’s Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award.

In 2002 Rafter was named Australian of the Year and in 2006 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Previous Australian Hall of Fame inductees:

1993 Rod Laver and Margaret (Smith) Court
1994 Roy Emerson, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Neale Fraser
1995 Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall
1996 Frank Sedgman, John Bromwich, Sir Norman Brookes, Ashley Cooper, Harry Hopman
1997 Fred Stolle, Jack Crawford, Gerald Patterson
1998 John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Lesley (Turner) Bowrey, Adrian Quist