Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He reached the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 1 singles ranking on July 26, 1999. His career highlights include consecutive US Open titles in 1997 and 1998 and consecutive runner-up at Wimbledon in 2000 and 2001.

1998 was a particularly strong year for Rafter, who won the Canadian Open and Cincinnati in a row (only Andre Agassi, in 1995, Andy Roddick, in 2003, and Rafael Nadal, in 2013 also have won both these tournaments in the same year). Rafter defeated ninth ranked Richard Krajicek in the Toronto final and second ranked Pete Sampras in the Cincinnati final. When asked about the difference between himself and Rafter following their titles, Sampras stated "10 grand slams", and that a player has to come back and win a Grand Slam again in order to be considered great.  Following his title at Cincinnati, Rafter won a US Open warm-up tournament in Long Island, New York. Entering the US Open as the defending champion, he reached the final again by defeating Hicham Arazi, Hernan Gumy, David Nainkin, Goran Ivanisevic and Jonas Bjorkman before defeating Sampras in a five-set semifinal. Rafter pointedly took issue with Sampras' refusal to show him respect in defeat: "That is what really upsets me about him", Rafter said, "and the reason why I try to piss him off as much as I can."  Rafter then defended his U.S. Open title by defeating fellow Australian Mark Philippoussis in four sets, committing only five unforced errors throughout the match. When asked about Sampras' earlier comments about having to win another Grand Slam in order to be considered great, Rafter replied: "Maybe you can ask him that question, if he thinks that now. For me, I won another Slam, and it hasn't sunk in yet. It's very, very exciting for me, especially to repeat it". Altogether, Rafter won six tournaments in 1998, finishing the year #4 in the world.

Using a quote from the above article, answer the following question: What were his best years in the game?
1998 was a particularly strong year for Rafter, who won the Canadian Open and Cincinnati in a row