Pat Rafter gives his fans a rare glimpse into the surprising mission he’s on in retirement – and lifts the lid on a family tragedy
- Aussie tennis has a great passion for regenerating land
- Lives with his wife Lara in the hinterland of Byron Bay
- Pat Rafter won two Grand Slam titles in a decorated career
Australian tennis great Pat Rafter has given an insight into the passion that drives him more than two decades after retiring – and also revealed his thoughts on a previous family tragedy that left a relative in prison.
The 51-year-old, a two-time US Open Grand Slam winner, lives in the Byron Bay hinterland – and having previously owned a waterfront property on the water, he couldn’t be happier.
The father-of-two has been busy – his family has planted an estimated 7,500 native plants and trees on their 26-hectare property – as well as planting 10,000 eucalyptus trees in a bid to create a koala corridor and sanctuary.
βI really like working in the fields, and it takes up a lot of my time,β he said News Corp.
βIt’s very important to us to bring the property back to what it once was, and we’re doing it in segments.β
Australian tennis great Pat Rafter has given insight into his life these days – and also revealed his thoughts on a family tragedy (pictured, at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane)
Pat Rafter (pictured right) now lives a relaxed life with wife Lara in the Byron Bay hinterland
Rafter won two US Open titles in his career (pictured above, in the 1997 final) and was also world number one in 1999
Seeing echidnas, bandicoots and swamp wallabies have become the norm, with Rafter and his wife Lara enjoying the quiet life.
Their children β Joshua, 21, and India, 18 β have moved because they want to launch their own careers and lives.
The former sports heartthrob, who reached world number one in 1999, also discovered his family has a criminal past.
The Rafter’s appeared on the SBS show Who do you think You Are? with a historian revealing that the tennis star’s paternal great-grandfather was often in trouble with the law.
David Dee’s family came to Australia from Ireland and settled in Townsville as free immigrants in 1875 – and the baker had a short fuse.
Dee was once accused by police of using profanity, using the offensive words “bloody bastard and damned thug.”
Court appearances and physical altercations followed, before Dee was jailed for four years after fighting with another man.
His wife Teresa had five children to raise β and after finding love elsewhere with her husband behind bars, Dee sadly died in 1918, estranged from his children and alone in Cairns.
Rafter acknowledged that Dee had “made some really bad choices,” but he was still fascinated by his early family history.
He also confirmed that he doesn’t play much tennis these days – but did compete in the recent Senior World Padel Championships in Spain – in the men’s 50-54 division.