US Open 2003, Rainer & Rain
The Song Is Over...
Well, the 2003 US Open has concluded - and it did so on schedule, no less. Andy Roddick was able to "save American tennis" with the win. I was thrilled to see Juan Carlos Ferrero advance to the finals, it's a shame that he wasn't playing as well as he normally does... straight sets loss doesn't do this new World #1 justice. On the women's side... Serena who? I think that we were able to see that the WTA has more than 4 or 5 top names, and that pint-sized Justine Henin-Hardenne is tough as nails. I'm glad that John McEnroe was touting her game and grit on air, it only helps the sport - not just the women's side. And he's right, she has the most beautful backhand around, a true gem to see.
But now on to Rainer...
2003 marked Rainer's best US Open showing in reaching the 4th round of the tournament. In his four previous visits to NY, Schuettler's best was reaching the third round back in 2000 with a loss to Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) 26 63 46 46, which came after upsetting fellow countryman Tommy Haas in the 2nd round 76(5) 62 64. Last year he lost early to France's Jean-Rene Lisnard (I missed it due to incorrectly guessing his day of play), while in 2001 he again beat a higher ranked fellow German in Nicolas Kiefer 57 64 10 and then lost in 5 sets in the 2nd round to Ramon Delgado (PAR) 46 76(5) 67(7) 62 26. Rainer's first US Open was in 1999, where he lost in the first round to Christian Ruud (NOR) 46 36 46.
4th Round 16 64 36 46 vs. Schalken (12) NED
Unfortunately, Rainer's run came to a close in the Round of 16 to Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, who is a player that just has his number for some reason. The match took days to play, but not as a result from a marathon tie-break, but from that rain (or mist) that was all over the news. We went from a Tuesday 3rd match of the day to a delay, to trying again on Wednesday to another delay but an attempt at around 10pm to start - played a few games then a delay, come back out and then decided not to continue at around 11-11:30pm... then we started Thursday with the 3rd match on Louis Armstrong (yeah!) to the 2nd match following JCFerrero-Martin 
after the women's was moved, to finally moving completely to Court 10 around 4pm. 
Whew... and then Rainer was just off that day and lost in four sets to the man who serves like the Tin Man. Sjeng wasn't outstanding, but he was just capitalizing on the mistakes made by Schuettler. He had 57 unforced errors, and only 52% on his first serve. He did get a serve in at 121 so that was nice. You could see the shots and choices that Rainer was going for, but they just were not falling his way, it wasn't like he was running around making stupid moves. Damn net.
This match finally had a crowd though they really didn't arrive until the middle of the 3rd set, and I was quite impressed to find that everyone around me didn't speak English... there were Sjeng and Rainer fans around, though Sjeng's were louder. Just for fun - try saying Rainer Schuettler versus Sjeng Schalken quickly, it makes you sound drunk. Like JCFerrero, Rainer just wasn't on, but maybe those folks who did watch the match will have some good impressions and follow his results in the future. There were some great, lengthy backhand to backhand rallies in this one, and you could tell the battle from the baseline was going to take center stage.
When I first arrived at Court 10, they had just begun, I bolted from the Ferrero-Martin match with JCF up 2 sets. For this match, the crowd was also quite small even for Armstrong, and all for Martin. I, of course, was rooting for JCF and clapped loudly for his points. They came out after the court had been dry an hour, warmed up and then began the match, maybe a game was finished - and then literally it started to rain/mist again! Martin refused to serve and they started packing up, and then the crowd just turned on them, it was pretty incredible. I get the frustration on the part of the fans (I was there three days in the rain myself), but people have to realize the danger involved in slick lines. JCF said something to the crowd and they seemed disinterested. When they came back out to cheers, JCF said with a wink to all 6 of us sitting on the side behind his chair "Are you ready for one more game?" and I replied, "Come on, just on more serve!" to which he laughed. We did get to see Davenport come out and practice for about 15 minutes in the rain, so that was good entertainment while waiting again. Courier was in the USA Network booth for the match, I think they showed a decent amount of the match on TV.
Back to Court 10, when I rounded the bleachers and sat down, I realized I had just parked myself in front of Brad Gilbert, Andy Roddick's new coach. He was there to scout the match since the draw called for the winner to meet Roddick. After a few games, I moved to the other end of the court, better to shoot Rainer's serve from that side and there were maybe 6 people in those bleachers as opposed to 10 in the middle and maybe 15 on the right at that time. On the short side (behind the chairs) it started filling up a bit more, a fast paced doubles match was going on the neighboring court so that always calls for more attention.
Schuettler Shots... Photos
Pic vs. Sjeng Don't know if this was Wed PM or Thurs
Vs. Sjeng late night first set
Another late night shot
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
US Open write up This is a rather poor and vague summary, I think the writer was there for only a short time.
Rainer interview pre-Sjeng match
Full Interview of Sjeng pre-Rainer; but here's the RS mention
I have some decent shots from this match, but towards the end my camera was having issues... the body was getting warm and it wasn't quick to capture some of the action. Once I figure out how to post my own pictures through Blogger, I will put up my best ones from all of Rainer's singles matches. I haven't used my digital camera for such real action like this before, considering its delay it did pretty well for the entire tournament. However, I plan on getting my "old school" film camera fixed as soon as I can afford it and use that as my primary action one in the future. I don't know if it's the body or my big zoom that has the problem, but in the next couple months I hope to get it all taken care of. The great thing about the digital (Sony Mavica with the mini CDs) is that you can edit right there, and the zoom is quite good, and it's really cheap to use - I buy packages of discs and then have three lithium batteries to keep charged, but that's about it. I can take well over 150 pictures per disc, and you can't beat the price vs. if I were shooting rolls in those quantities. For the Olympic Games (more on that in a future post I'm sure) the camera was outstanding and performed like a champ.
3rd Round 61 64 62 vs. A. Martin ESP
This was Sunday's match, the day that single-day attendance records were set at the US Open - over 51,000 were on the grounds that day, and you could tell. Over on Court 10, when I finally got on the grounds (that's a whole different post) the first set was already over. I got in the stands right next to the court to the chair's right and got some good shots. Rainer played a really smart game, and had some pretty winners. The three set win had to be a bit of a boost and good for his body in not being a lenghty battle. With the win here, 2003 became his career best US Open showing so that's another great accomplishment for the year for Schuettler. His first serve winning percentage was 83%, he had 28 winners to Martin's 7, converted on 5 of 8 break points, and came to the net well (16 for 22). He registered a serve for 119 as well. Another rather mediocre crowd for this match, but those who were there enjoyed themselves. After numerous Schuettler winners, you could hear people saying "wow" or "man, that was a nice shot." I didn't stay too long into the evening for other matches, had been on the grounds since 9am, which meant I hit the road at 7am.
Well, the 2003 US Open has concluded - and it did so on schedule, no less. Andy Roddick was able to "save American tennis" with the win. I was thrilled to see Juan Carlos Ferrero advance to the finals, it's a shame that he wasn't playing as well as he normally does... straight sets loss doesn't do this new World #1 justice. On the women's side... Serena who? I think that we were able to see that the WTA has more than 4 or 5 top names, and that pint-sized Justine Henin-Hardenne is tough as nails. I'm glad that John McEnroe was touting her game and grit on air, it only helps the sport - not just the women's side. And he's right, she has the most beautful backhand around, a true gem to see.
But now on to Rainer...
2003 marked Rainer's best US Open showing in reaching the 4th round of the tournament. In his four previous visits to NY, Schuettler's best was reaching the third round back in 2000 with a loss to Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) 26 63 46 46, which came after upsetting fellow countryman Tommy Haas in the 2nd round 76(5) 62 64. Last year he lost early to France's Jean-Rene Lisnard (I missed it due to incorrectly guessing his day of play), while in 2001 he again beat a higher ranked fellow German in Nicolas Kiefer 57 64 10 and then lost in 5 sets in the 2nd round to Ramon Delgado (PAR) 46 76(5) 67(7) 62 26. Rainer's first US Open was in 1999, where he lost in the first round to Christian Ruud (NOR) 46 36 46.
4th Round 16 64 36 46 vs. Schalken (12) NED
Unfortunately, Rainer's run came to a close in the Round of 16 to Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, who is a player that just has his number for some reason. The match took days to play, but not as a result from a marathon tie-break, but from that rain (or mist) that was all over the news. We went from a Tuesday 3rd match of the day to a delay, to trying again on Wednesday to another delay but an attempt at around 10pm to start - played a few games then a delay, come back out and then decided not to continue at around 11-11:30pm... then we started Thursday with the 3rd match on Louis Armstrong (yeah!) to the 2nd match following JCFerrero-Martin after the women's was moved, to finally moving completely to Court 10 around 4pm. Whew... and then Rainer was just off that day and lost in four sets to the man who serves like the Tin Man. Sjeng wasn't outstanding, but he was just capitalizing on the mistakes made by Schuettler. He had 57 unforced errors, and only 52% on his first serve. He did get a serve in at 121 so that was nice. You could see the shots and choices that Rainer was going for, but they just were not falling his way, it wasn't like he was running around making stupid moves. Damn net.This match finally had a crowd though they really didn't arrive until the middle of the 3rd set, and I was quite impressed to find that everyone around me didn't speak English... there were Sjeng and Rainer fans around, though Sjeng's were louder. Just for fun - try saying Rainer Schuettler versus Sjeng Schalken quickly, it makes you sound drunk. Like JCFerrero, Rainer just wasn't on, but maybe those folks who did watch the match will have some good impressions and follow his results in the future. There were some great, lengthy backhand to backhand rallies in this one, and you could tell the battle from the baseline was going to take center stage. When I first arrived at Court 10, they had just begun, I bolted from the Ferrero-Martin match with JCF up 2 sets. For this match, the crowd was also quite small even for Armstrong, and all for Martin. I, of course, was rooting for JCF and clapped loudly for his points. They came out after the court had been dry an hour, warmed up and then began the match, maybe a game was finished - and then literally it started to rain/mist again! Martin refused to serve and they started packing up, and then the crowd just turned on them, it was pretty incredible. I get the frustration on the part of the fans (I was there three days in the rain myself), but people have to realize the danger involved in slick lines. JCF said something to the crowd and they seemed disinterested. When they came back out to cheers, JCF said with a wink to all 6 of us sitting on the side behind his chair "Are you ready for one more game?" and I replied, "Come on, just on more serve!" to which he laughed. We did get to see Davenport come out and practice for about 15 minutes in the rain, so that was good entertainment while waiting again. Courier was in the USA Network booth for the match, I think they showed a decent amount of the match on TV. Back to Court 10, when I rounded the bleachers and sat down, I realized I had just parked myself in front of Brad Gilbert, Andy Roddick's new coach. He was there to scout the match since the draw called for the winner to meet Roddick. After a few games, I moved to the other end of the court, better to shoot Rainer's serve from that side and there were maybe 6 people in those bleachers as opposed to 10 in the middle and maybe 15 on the right at that time. On the short side (behind the chairs) it started filling up a bit more, a fast paced doubles match was going on the neighboring court so that always calls for more attention.Pic vs. Sjeng Don't know if this was Wed PM or Thurs
Vs. Sjeng late night first set
Another late night shot
US Open write up This is a rather poor and vague summary, I think the writer was there for only a short time.
Rainer interview pre-Sjeng match
Full Interview of Sjeng pre-Rainer; but here's the RS mention
Q. Looking forward towards your next match, your next opponent will be Rainer Schuettler. What do you think of this match?
SJENG SCHALKEN: Well, I think it's gonna be a really hard match, completely different than what I played today. Rainer and I play from the back. Well, he's red hot at the moment. He wins a lot of matches, even in the Masters Series. Last time we played, fourth round in Wimbledon, I beat him in three sets. But, well, I will expect, again, I think it's gonna be a tougher match. We both like the hard courts and it will be a physical match with a lot of running.
I have some decent shots from this match, but towards the end my camera was having issues... the body was getting warm and it wasn't quick to capture some of the action. Once I figure out how to post my own pictures through Blogger, I will put up my best ones from all of Rainer's singles matches. I haven't used my digital camera for such real action like this before, considering its delay it did pretty well for the entire tournament. However, I plan on getting my "old school" film camera fixed as soon as I can afford it and use that as my primary action one in the future. I don't know if it's the body or my big zoom that has the problem, but in the next couple months I hope to get it all taken care of. The great thing about the digital (Sony Mavica with the mini CDs) is that you can edit right there, and the zoom is quite good, and it's really cheap to use - I buy packages of discs and then have three lithium batteries to keep charged, but that's about it. I can take well over 150 pictures per disc, and you can't beat the price vs. if I were shooting rolls in those quantities. For the Olympic Games (more on that in a future post I'm sure) the camera was outstanding and performed like a champ.
3rd Round 61 64 62 vs. A. Martin ESP
This was Sunday's match, the day that single-day attendance records were set at the US Open - over 51,000 were on the grounds that day, and you could tell. Over on Court 10, when I finally got on the grounds (that's a whole different post) the first set was already over. I got in the stands right next to the court to the chair's right and got some good shots. Rainer played a really smart game, and had some pretty winners. The three set win had to be a bit of a boost and good for his body in not being a lenghty battle. With the win here, 2003 became his career best US Open showing so that's another great accomplishment for the year for Schuettler. His first serve winning percentage was 83%, he had 28 winners to Martin's 7, converted on 5 of 8 break points, and came to the net well (16 for 22). He registered a serve for 119 as well. Another rather mediocre crowd for this match, but those who were there enjoyed themselves. After numerous Schuettler winners, you could hear people saying "wow" or "man, that was a nice shot." I didn't stay too long into the evening for other matches, had been on the grounds since 9am, which meant I hit the road at 7am.
posted by Sprtswrtr @ 10:10 PM
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