Editing Pat Rafter (section)

===Late career (2000–2003)===
[[File:Rafter3.jpg|thumb|right|Rafter playing for the [[Australia Davis Cup team]] in 2001]]
Rafter's ranking had fallen to No. 21 by the time he reached the Wimbledon final in July 2000. In the semifinals, he defeated Agassi 7–5, 4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3. The match was hailed as a classic, particularly because of their contrasting playing styles, with Agassi playing primarily from the baseline and Rafter attacking the net. Rafter faced Sampras in the final, who was gunning for a record-breaking seventh Wimbledon title overall (and seven in the past eight years). While Rafter made a strong start to the match and took the first set, after the match he would claim that he had "[[choke (sports)|choked]]" part way through the second set tie-break, and was then not able to get back into his game. Sampras won in four sets.

Rafter played on the [[Australian Davis Cup Team]] that lost in the final in 2000 (to [[Spain Davis Cup team|Spain]]) and 2001 (to [[France Davis Cup team|France]]). Rafter played on the Australian teams that won the [[World Team Cup]] in 1999 and 2001.

In 2001, Rafter reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. Despite holding a two sets to one lead and having the support of the home crowd, Rafter lost the match to Agassi in five sets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/australian_open/news/2001/01/25/agassi_recap|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010811121329/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/australian_open/news/2001/01/25/agassi_recap/|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 August 2001|title=Survival of the fittest}}</ref> Later in the year, Rafter again reached the Wimbledon final. For the third straight year, he faced Agassi in the semifinals and won in yet another five-setter, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 8–6. Much like the previous year's semifinal, this match also received praise for the quality of play that the two men displayed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/in_depth/2001/wimbledon_2001/1426142.stm|title=Rafter charges into final|date=6 July 2001|website=bbc.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/wimbledon/news/2001/07/06/wimbledon_friday_ap|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010710051606/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/wimbledon/news/2001/07/06/wimbledon_friday_ap/|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 July 2001|title=Back for more}}</ref> The final was originally scheduled to play on the second Sunday but was rescheduled to the third Monday because the other semifinal between [[Goran Ivanišević]] and [[Tim Henman]] was played on three separate days. In the final he played Ivanišević, who had reached the Wimbledon final three times before but had slid down the rankings to World No. 125 following injury problems. In a five-set struggle that lasted just over three hours, Ivanišević prevailed. He played his last match at the Davis Cup final on rubber, winning the singles but losing the doubles.

Rafter did not play any tour matches in 2002. He spent the year recovering from injuries. In January 2003, he announced his retirement from professional tennis, stating that he had lost all motivation to compete at the top level.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/rafter-announces-retirement-20030110-gdg354.html|title=Rafter announces retirement|date=10 January 2003|website=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] }}</ref>