Morning Man Classic: Patrick Rafter!

Last week was the 50th birthday of one of the sexiest male tennis pros ever.

He’s Patrick Rafter and he electrified the tennis world when he served and volleyed his way to the US Open title in 1997 then defended his crown with another title in 1998.

What makes this one-time GQ cover boy even more attractive is his smile, the twinkle in his eye, the feeling that he’s having a good time.

In addition to his US Opens wins, Rafter was briefly being ranked number one in the summer of 1999, twice made it to the finals of Wimbledon and won the Australian Open doubles crown.

He managed to beat Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi several times when both were at the peak of their powers and never lost to Roger Federer.

He became the first man in the Open Era to win Canada Masters, Cincinnati Masters and the US Open in the same year, which he achieved in 1998; this achievement has been dubbed the American Summer Slam. To date, only two players have followed this feat: Andy Roddick in 2003, and Rafael Nadal in 2013.

Rafter is the third man in the Open Era to reach semifinals or better of every Grand Slam tournament in both singles and doubles, after Rod Laver and Stefan Edberg, and remains the last man to date to accomplish this.

Injury cut his career a bit short and caused him to retire in 2002. He was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006.