Freedom roll behind Rafter

Patrick Rafter said that since he retired from the tennis circuit in 2001, his attitude has changed.

''I play with a smile on my face," said Rafter, 32.

He was smiling a lot last night after the Philadelphia Freedom defeated the Boston Lobsters, 22-17, before 1,792 at Harvard's Bright Center.

The Lobsters (3-5) started fast with the women's double team of Daja Bedanova and Kristen Schlukebir put away the Freedom's Carly Gullickson and Elena Tatarkova, 5-2.

But the match soon turned to the Freedom (3-4), with Rafter and Josh Eagle defeating Thomas Blake and Johan Landsberg, 5-2, and Gullickson overpowering Bedanova, 5-3.

But perhaps the most intensely watched match came after the intermission, when Rafter knocked off Blake, 5-4 (5-0).

Rafter took the first game, but Blake won the second.

In the third game, though, Rafter showed the skills that had once made him No. 1 in the world.

Blake battled back to tie the set, 4-4, but Rafter dominated the tiebreaker.

For some players, the three-week WorldTeam Tennis season provides a chance to bone up on their games for future matches -- like James Blake, who's gearing up for next month's US Open. For others, like Rafter, the league offers a chance to play the game competitively.

Rafter was the player du jour as the marquee player for the Freedom.

Rafter retired from the sport after his last match with the Australian Davis Cup team in 2001. Then he joined the Freedom, playing sporadically the last two years. He's playing in just four of their 13 matches this season.

''I haven't picked up a racket much. You'll see," he said before the match. ''This year I've slowed down a bit -- I guess I can blame that on my kids [3 years and 7 weeks old]."

Rafter was called into action in the final mixed doubles match, in which he subbed for Eagle. Rafter and Gullickson defeated Landsberg and Schlukebir, 5-3, to hand the Lobsters their fifth loss of the season.