On Sept. 13, 1998, Patrick Rafter defended his men’s singles title, defeating fellow Australian Mark Philippoussis, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.
The singles final was the first all-Australian men’s singles championship at the US Open since Ken Rosewall defeated Tony Roche in 1970.
With the victory, Rafter joined an exclusive club of two-time Australian champions at the US Open / U.S. Championships – Roy Emerson, Neale Fraser, Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Rosewall and Frank Sedgman – and became the sixth man in the Open era to repeat as a US Open singles champion – alongside John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras.
