Thursday 16 September
Quick update at 7AM NY time - M Youzhny (RUS) d (4)R Schuettler (GER) 61 76, doubles yet to resume. Will have more later Thursday afternoon when I get back in town.
Wednesday 15 September
Schuettler and Youzhny's doubles match, along with many others, has been stopped due to rain. Earlier in the day Youzhny defeated Heuberger, 75 76(4), today and will face Schuettler in the 2nd round of singles play.
"I really like being at the China Open, first time in the huge stadium of the centre court and I look forward to playing the next round. Both Ivo (Heuberger) and Mikhail (Youzhny) are good friends of mine so it is always tough to play a friend. However, I have to be focused and hope I feel better than they do when I wake up in the morning," said Rainer after his first round match.
Seeded fourth in doubles, the two were into the third set against Huss and Lindstedt when play was called.
They will resume on Thursday afternoon with the score at 67(4) 61 10.
UPDATE: Rainer and Mikhail will be busy Thursday afternoon... they face off against one another on Court 1 (2nd match of the day, play begins at 11am) for their 2nd round match and then pair up to continue their first round doubles match on Court 2 (4th match on that court, play also begins at 11am).
Here is the event page for Thursday's Schedule of Play.
China Open
Monday 13 September
Rainer Schuettler and some fellow ATPers and some WTA top names are in Beijing for the
China Open for the next two weeks (1st week is ATP, 2nd is WTA).
Schuettler, a Top 5 seed for the event, is scheduled to take on
Paul Baccanello of Australia in first round action on Monday. It will be their first meeting, and so far this year Baccanello reached the doubles semis in Segovia (w/Landsberg) and Valladolid(w/Rojer).
In doubles, Schuettler is again teaming up with Mikhail Youzhny, they are slated to play
Stephen Huss and
Robert Lindstedt. Schuettler/Youzhny are the 4th seed and their match is scheduled for Wednesday on Court 6.
In 2004, Huss was a doubles finalist in Bermuda (w/Fisher) and Canberra (w/Luczak), semifinalist at Newport (w/Fisher), an in Cherbourg and Mexico City (w/Wakefield). Lindstedt was a singles finalist in Tasmania (how could I not include any type of Tasmania reference?!) and in doubles, he won in Seoul (w/Fisher), Germany F2 (w/Knippschild) and Wolfsburg (w/Scherrer), was a finalist at Calabasas (w/Klec) and Ljubljana (w/Russell), a semifinalist in Weiden (w/Aspelin), Budapest (w/Kubot), Zagreb (w/Oliver), Bermuda (w/Peya), Ho Chi Minh (w/Ross), and both Canberra and Tasmania (w/Scherrer).
Here is what the event's site said about Rainer, who they also described as "German Candy"... "With both a German face¡ªrational and cool¡ªand German style¡ªperseverance and stamina, Schuettler has yet another quality¡ªhis optimism. In the severe competition of tennis sphere, his optimism is much cherished by fans. His championship in Shanghai Master Cup in 2001 made him familiar among Chinese fans. He is the only player with a title won in China."
UPDATE: Schuettler advances to the 2nd round after winning 63 64 (some reports say 63 63). He will face the Ivo Heuberger v Mikhail Youzhny winner.
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Schuettler Shots... Photos
These additional three links are to other photos from Monday's first round, but I can't get them on the site for some reason:
One,
Two, and
Three
