He may still sport the same long, curly locks that drive women mad the
                     world over, but Australian Patrick Rafter is not the same player he was
                     when he reached the Roland Garros semifinals a year ago. The 25-year-old
                     Rafter, the defending U.S. Open champion, is confounded by his newfound
                     celebrity and recently said he is no longer enjoying himself on-court. The
                     vintage serve-and-volleyer is struggling to stay in matches and hasn't won a
                     significant tournament since his run in Flushing Meadows nine months ago.

                     "I'm definitely 10 percent less than what I was last year," said Rafter,
                     whose impressive charge to the 1997 Roland Garros semis gave hope to
                     net rushers every where that the French Open could be won well inside the
                     service lines.

                     Earlier this week, commentator John McEnroe called Rafter a "one Grand
                     Slam wonder," a remark that might irritate another elite player, but only
                     served to confirm Rafter's dour self-assessment. "That probably summed it
                     up pretty well," Rafter said. "I guess it does disappoint me a bit. But John is
                     someone who is not afraid of saying things, He's pretty accurate with what
                     he says.

                     I've achieved all my goals. Unfortunately, it's probably put in a negative
                     tone when I only see a positive. I don't care if I'm a one-Slam wonder. I've
                     won one. That's a lot better than a lot of people have done. I'm happy with
                     what I achieved. If I don't win another match, I can go to my next career
                     feeling happy with what I achieved."

                     Like No. 2 Petr Korda and No. 5 Greg Rusedski, Rafter failed to grab Pete
                     Sampras' No. 1 spot earlier this year when it was ripe for the taking.
                     Chilean Marcelo Rios took advantage of the opportunity by snaring the
                     titles at Indian Wells and the Lipton, becoming No. 1 for a month.

                     Rafter, who was named one of 1997's Sexiest Athletes of the Year by
                     People magazine, says that dealing with the demands of being a superstar
                     have been too much for him. "It's not for the better, it's not me," Rafter
                     said. "I'm not enjoying it much. Everyone notices you more. It's very hard
                     to do the private things you used to do. Especially at home in Australia, it's
                     just very difficult to relax. There's just a whole lot more requests. I'm not a
                     person that likes to say no, but I have to say no to a lot of things. That's the
                     part I don't enjoy....Ninety percent of the time, you can't do what you want
                     to do."

                     Rafter says he hasn't hit his stride yet this year and was disappointed in his
                     third-round loss at the Australian Open. He says that much of it has to do
                     with the high expectations his countrymen have for him. Australia hasn't
                     had a No. 1 since John Newcombe in 1974. "The pressure's on," Rafter
                     said. "It's a different sort of feeling to when I was playing before. Before, it
                     was like, 'Rafter, will he win? Probably not. Let's see what happens.' Now
                     it's, 'Rafter, he should be winning this match.' I want to keep winning, but
                     it's a bit harder when the expectations are there."

                     In April, Rafter managed to win a small tournament in Chennai, but after
                     that, suffered three straight first-round losses before arriving in Paris. He
                     gutted out a five set-win over Canadian Sebastian Lareau in the first round
                     at Roland Garros and is scheduled to play his compatriot Jason Stoltenberg
                     on Thursday. While his confidence is way down, Rafter promises to keep
                     scrapping.

                     "The Slams are what we play for, and for me, Davis Cup," he said.
                     "They're my biggest priorities. Obviously, I try in every match, but the
                     Slams are something I really focus on. If I don't win another one, bad luck.
                     But I'm going to be out there trying. If I try and give 100 percent, then I'm
                     going to be happy. I find no negative in that at all."