Rios took three, Rafter two, Moya and Corretja one each. Thus the leaders in 1998 official points looked like this after the U.S. Open. They will be followed by the ATP Tour World Championship, in Hannover, Germany, 23-29 November. The ATP World should yield slightly higher rewards, the winner last year having earned 630 points. It thus appears that three and perhaps four players are close enough to claim the lead from Rafter by winning two or three of the principal remaining events.
Indoor play raises several considerations.
Big servers typically do well indoors, unhindered in their delivery by wind or sun. Indoor-carpet surfaces, used at Stuttgart and Paris, are usually moderately slow but not slow enough to swing the advantage to the baseliner. Inveterate net rushers like Rafter like the freedom from wind and sun indoors and also the excellent foot traction offered by carpet. His own serves and volleys are powerful enough not to require help from a very fast court. Rafter's serve, less powerful than Sampras', should gain a higher bounce than at Flushing Meadows, to Rafter's advantage.