Tennis Masters Madrid

Thursday 16 October
Here are some articles and mentions on Rainer from today. Some may be more related to Wednesday's match, and I need to translate all as well. I'll update and edit this hopefully Friday when I have a chance.

There's Something About Rainer... Articles

• Netzeitung


• TennisMagazine.de


• Sport1


• Another Sport1


• Another Sportgate


• Sportgate


• SkySports


• Sportbild

Wednesday 15 October
Schuettler Stumbles In Spain, 26 46


In taking to the court after a whirlwind few weeks and two days of rest, fatigue may have finally caught up with "Marathon Man" Rainer Schuettler. The match lasted 57 minutes and it just wasn't Rainer's day as he was beaten by Robbie Ginepri in second round action 26 46. After the match, the top-ranked German said, "I did not feel especially well. I was mentally and physically tired."


There's Something About Rainer... Articles

• Ticker recap from TennisMagazin.de of the match


• N-TV.de wire report. "I did not feel especially well. I was mentally and physically tired," said Rainer after the match. Story mentions that although he missed the opportunity to close the gap or pass Coria (not in Madrid) in the standings, Schuettler will have a few days off to rest and prepare for St. Petersburg, the final TMS event and Paris and then the year-end Houston tournament. Rainer also said that despite losing early, "I have had a good year."


• Sport.ard had the same wire report, as did
• Sportgate


• TennisMagazin.de recap that says Schuettler had tired legs and was questioning the umpire a lot, even about the color of the towels. Also said that he never really found his way into the game and that he seemed listless.


• Sportbild.de had a mini mention here, stating how Ginepri controlled the match from the back, allowed zero breaks and had 10 aces.


• ESPN report had this mention: "The German came into the tournament on a roll after claiming back-to-back title wins in Tokyo and Lyon but he was hardly given a chance by Ginepri, who wrapped up victory in 57 minutes. Ginepri served 10 aces, including three in the final game as he closed out the match in style."

ATP's report on the day, only this Rainer mention: "Fellow American Robbie Ginepri halted the 10-match winning streak of Rainer Schuettler 6-2, 6-4 and is now one win away from his fourth Masters Series quarterfinal of 2003."

• Netzeitung quick mention, says that Rainer missed out on a tennis hat-trick in capturing three events in a row. The last German to do so was Boris Becker in 1986.

Other news from Madrid:
* Roddick faced two very tough sets against Mirnyi, 61 67(7-9) 75. A win in Madrid would make the #2 seed the only player to win three-straight TMS events.
* Seeded players fall early... (4) Rainer, (9) Philippoussis, (10) Schalken, (11) Verkerk, (12) Calleri, (13) Kuerten, (14) Robredo and world #1 Juan Carlos Ferrero survived a charge from Wayne Ferreira 63 26 76(4), including being down 2-5 in the third and staving off two match points at 3-5, 15/40.
* Mardy Fish survived seven set points during an epic 30-point first-set tie-break en route to a 7-6(14), 6-2 win over Tommy Robredo to reach the third round.
* ATP investigating match-rigging reports.
* Kafelnikov refutes allegations/rumors.
* Wayne Ferreira announced that 2004 will be his last on the tour, and may get into coaching.


Tuesday 14 October
After a well-deserved two-day respite and a first round bye, Rainer will take to the court against American Robbie Ginepri on Wednesday. Ginepri defeated Olivier Rochus 63 63 in their first round Monday match.
Their only meeting came this summer when Rainer defeated Ginepri 62 63 in the Cincinnati Tennis Masters quarterfinals in August.

Schuettler brings to Madrid a solid record on hardcourt (his favorite surface) and is fresh off two titles from Tokyo and Lyon. In 2003 Rainer is 38-11 on hardcourt and his ATP results are 61-21. Since early August's TMS Montreal, Rainer is a "Red Flash" 25-4 and has reached at least the semis in every tournament but one - the "worst" being the fourth round loss in the US Open (a career-best for NY). Winning in Lyon also gave Rainer his first tournament title outside of Asia (Doha 1999, Shanghai 2001, Tokyo 2003).

The event's main page has this link for live scores.

There's Something About Rainer... Articles

• Die Welt interview with Rainer after Lyon win


• Netzeitung blurb on Wednesday


• Jon Wertheim's complete Sports Illustrated tennis column that contains this rare Rainer mention: "In France, Rainer Schuettler won his second title in as many weeks, defeating Arnie Clement in the final of the Lyon Open."

Monday 13 October
Rainer Schuettler and the rest of the ATP Tour are in Spain for the prestigious Tennis Masters Madrid. The Tennis Masters series are mandatory events for the best players on the tour, they are second only to the four Grand Slams. More crowds, more media, more TV, more money - here in the US on October 20 there is a one hour show from 1-2 AM to recap the whole tournament, that's it for coverage of this event.

Here is the event's profile on 4th-seeded Rainer.

Here is the ATP's preview of the event and check out the draws, results and order of play here.

Again this week the ATP listed Rainer as its Champions Race Stat of the Week: "Rainer Schuettler claimed one of the three remaining Tennis Masters Cup spots after winning his second title in as many weeks in Lyon. Schuettler becomes the first German to qualify for the year-end championship since Nicolas Kiefer in 1999 in Hanover."

The latest Champions Race standings are: 1st Roddick 807, 2nd Ferrero 726, 3rd Federer 655, 4th Agassi 605, 5th Coria 589, 6th Schuettler 568 and 7th Moya 421.

There's Something About Rainer... Articles

• Sport1 article


• Netzeitung's tennis recap