Goran and Rafter in twilight zone

Any mention of shouldering the burden is guaranteed to produce a wince from two of the participants in the eight-man field for the Tennis Masters Cup, which starts in Sydney tomorrow. This showcase end to the ATP's season could mark the closing moments of the careers of two of the most popular and charismatic professionals on the tour, Pat Rafter and Goran Ivanisevic.

This pair, who so memorably slogged it out over five sets in this year's Wimbledon final, are nursing problems with the shoulder of their serving arms. Rafter, who has soldiered on for two years aware that the right shoulder, on which surgery was performed in October 1999, could give out again at any moment and the anxieties associated with that knowledge have been apparent for some time, while Ivanisevic has known for a time now that an operation on the left shoulder which propels the most dynamic serve in the sport ought not to be further delayed.

If Goran had not pulled out of a career nosedive by becoming the first wild card ever to win a Grand Slam title on the Centre Court lawns he would probably have either been under the knife by now or contemplating calling it a day at the age of 30. Instead, he is pushing both his good fortune and his luck by playing on in the golden afterglow of that gloriously improbable Wimbledon victory, and who can blame him? But another big week in Sydney's SuperDome might well persuade him the time has come to ease up and just enjoy being the Greatest Living Croatian.

The Masters Cup this week and Australia's Davis Cup final against France in Melbourne at the end of the month mark a neat home-based conclusion to the 29-year-old Rafter's year and, probably, his career. Pat has let it be known he intends to turn his back on tennis for the first six months of 2002 to rest and reassess. Even if he feels like a comeback in time for the grass court segment of the season, such is the pace of change in the sport that Rafter could find himself trailing in the slipstream, as John McEnroe once did.

Whatever his inner feelings, Rafter is already being sadly written off by the other big names. The world number one Gustavo Kuerten, who will be defending the title he captured so brilliantly in Lisbon a year ago, says: "Pat is a very nice guy and for sure we're going to miss him a lot, but not too much because it's going to be a bit easier with one less like him."

Lleyton Hewitt, winner of the US Open two months ago and holding a realistic chance of displacing Kuerten at the summit, feels he may be losing mentor as well as friend: "If the Masters Cup and Davis Cup are going to be his last events, it would definitely be a great way to go out. Pat was a huge help to me because I came on the tour at such a young age. He really took me under his wing, as well as showing it's a good time for Australian tennis right now."

The man himself has been strewing indications around that time may be up. After finishing on the wrong end of a Wimbledon final for the second straight year, Rafter said sadly: "I don't know if I'll be back here again, I really don't." It would, therefore, be fitting if, after getting into the top 10 for the first time in three years, Rafter could reach out and win his first singles title in Australia. Pat puts his chances this way: "I know I'm going to have my good weeks and bad weeks. You just hope the good weeks are in big tournaments like this."

Rafter will have an early indication of those chances since he faces Andre Agassi in his first match tomorrow in what looks much the stronger of the two four-man groups which will contest the round-robin stages. Only two will go forward to the semi-finals from Agassi, Hewitt, Rafter and France's Sebastien Grosjean, while the other group features Kuerten, Ivanisevic, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and the Spanish 21-year-old, Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The tournament, which began in 1970 as the Masters and has subsequently gone through several spells of format change, will enjoy a venue in keeping with its prestige at the 17,500-seat SuperDome, one of the splendid legacies of the 2000 Olympics and where the Games' basketball and gymnastics finals were held.

Next to the two Australian contenders, Kafelnikov will probably be the happiest about the tournament's site, since it was in Sydney last year that he collected Olympic gold. The tour's so-called "man of iron" (he has played more singles and doubles matches than anyone for the seventh time in eight years) fondly refers to Australia as "a wonderful country which has brought me a lot of success", having also won one of his two Grand Slams, the Australian Open of 1999, in Melbourne.

There is $3.7 million in prize-money up for grabs, but cash is a piffling side-issue for the eight competitors, every man jack of them a millionaire already. Prestige is what they are pursuing, most notably the number one ranking. Last year in Lisbon Kuerten pipped the hot favourite, Marat Safin, by defeating Agassi in the final, the very last match of the tour's year.

This time Kuerten, Hewitt and Agassi all have a shot at ending the year as number one. Having achieved just about everything else in 2001, including fatherhood, the 31-year-old Agassi will be keen on top spot. Only once before (1999) in 15 years in the rankings has he managed this. If he pulls it off, the Las Vegan would be the oldest to end the year at number one since the ATP introduced rankings in 1973.

So it might prove Agassi's adieu, too, especially if he wins the whole thing. But the last word belongs to Ivanisevic and his quaint way with the English language: "Nobody will leave Sydney loser. You are winner already by qualifying for the Masters Cup, so you leave there as winner even if you don't win."

MASTERS CUP LINE-UP

Ken Rosewall Group: Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil), Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain), Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia), Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia).

John Newcombe Group: Lleyton Hewitt (Australia), Andre Agassi (US), Patrick Rafter (Australia), Sebastien Grosjean (France).

Opening matches. Tomorrow: Hewitt v Grosjean; Agassi v Rafter. Tuesday: Ferrero v Kafelnikov; Kuerten v Ivanisevic.