Masters Cup Houston
Monday 17 November
Though the tourney has ended, I'm going to add this Monday as a place to update any further articles from Houston. The uproar over it has not subsided and there are also some legit Rainer articles, so anything extra I find I'll put under this day. (Updated 10am Thursday 20 Nov)
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Sunday 16 November
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Saturday 15 November
Rainer's Season Comes to a Close
Schuettler fell to Agassi 75 06 64 in the semifinal of the Masters Cup, closing the book on an outstanding 2003 for the German.
"I beat the No. 1 player and the No. 4 player (Guillermo Coria) in the world here, and today I played good. No one before the tournament expected me to be in the semifinals. So I have no reason to be disappointed about the week," said Rainer.
I was hoping ESPN would have interviewed both players after the match, but they only spoke with Andre. Some quotes from him about the match against Rainer: "There were a lot of meat and potatoes points... it was humid at the start after the rain, the balls were heavy and collecting moisture and I was nervous to hit the ball too big - the last thing I wanted was to have him rely on his legs and just sort of settle in..."
The crowd, not surprisingly, was for Agassi, but it seemed that they were applauding fairly for Schuettler, and after all the great shots - no matter the player. I think Rainer picked up some additional fans with his quality play here this week. (Side note: it appeared that "Mattress Mack" watched the match from up high in the stadium, standing in the concourse area, and he was certainly rooting for Andre. At 45 in the 3rd he even looked to the heavens and said a little prayer. I didn't watch the Federer-Roddick match, don't know his actions for that one.) Even at the US Open, people were like "you're here to see who's match?" - I think that his name is out there more, and he deserves that. I saw most of the match with some fast-forwarding tonight after work, hoping to see the whole thing on Monday's day off. So far though, I think my favorite shot was that great (one-handed) backhand dropper to give Rainer set point in the first, how perfect was that? Some pretty tennis for sure.
Interesting tidbit of the week... Federer is a WWF/WWE fan - who woulda thunk it?! Also, that one of the 1st things Rainer did in Houston was check the German papers online to see what they're saying, he was glad that after Moya they weren't too brutal.
Well... on to some quick article links (I promised photos and will add them, I know I'm late on them)... a little crazy around here for me - my sister is in Mosul Iraq, which can be nervewracking, but I can't worry over things I can't control or else I'd lose my mind, but was very glad she was able to call before the news reported those two terrible helicopter crashes today to say she was okay. It's going to be a long year with her over there... one more day of work before I can put some time into completing these past few days of tennis, then I am going to figure out what sort of things to post during the "off-season" that goes by too quickly... my Saturday "To Do List" actually included 'have breakfast'
Schuettler Shots... Photos
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
There's Something About Rainer... ArticlesThese are pre-Agassi match
Friday 14 November
Schuettler Stalls Against Moya
In a sort of 'dead rubber' match, Schuettler lost the final Red Group round robin match to Carlos Moya 75 64 and finishes atop his group with a 2-1 record. Rainer next faces Agassi in Saturday's first semifinal match (1pm Houston time). Roddick then takes on Federer in the other singles match of the day.
Against Agassi, here is how Rainer fared: 2003 Canada TMS Hard Quarters 26 62 63; 2003 Australian Open Hard Finals 26 26 16; 1998 Munich Clay R16 16 46. In 2003, Andre won Houston, Miami TMS, Australian Open, and San Jose; semifinalist in London / Queen's Club, US Open, and Washington; and a quarterfinalist at Canada TMS and Roland Garros. He finished 2002 as the 2nd ranked player.
Here's ESPN's coverage breakdown...
Friday ESPN 1-3 pm ET Federer-Ferrero
ESPN2 3-5 Rainer-Moya
ESPN2 Roddick-Coria 12:30am - 2:30am (Fri night/sat AM)
Saturday 3:30-5:30pm Rainer-Andre ESPN2
ESPN2 11pm-1am Federer-(winner)
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
These were Friday, pre-Moya
Thursday 13 November
Rainer Stops Roddick, In Semis
Schuettler put a damper in the plans of most tennis fans as he beat Roddick 46 76(4) 76(3) on Thursday. The win puts Rainer into the semis as the winner of the red group (coincidence that the 'red flash' wins the red group?) He faces Agassi on Saturday, a match he hoped for at the start of the week, but no countrywoman Steffi in the stands.
Well, it's after 1am for me, I just saw most of the fast-forwarded match after getting home from work at 11pm because I am a sucker for punishment... already worked 48 hours this week and don't have a day off until Monday, have to leave my house in 7 hours and one of my dogs just encountered a skunk. So... not much of a Rainer update this moment as I am searching for a good remedy for the dog... I will try to get some stuff up after the 'bath' since I am sure there will be tons of good articles, I'm hoping for 5 hours sleep at this point.
I am thrilled with the win, of course Patrick McEnroe couldn't even say anything about how maybe Rainer played a good match. He even said that there's no way Roddick should be losing to a guy like that. (Hmmm.... anybody remember Davis Cup of Roddick v Dominik Hrbaty??) I'm sorry, some may call the Oz Open a fluke or that Roddick was hurt, or he was hurt later in Indian Wells... call it what you will, but 0-3 just this year isn't an accident - and now, even with a "hot" and "healthy" Roddick, no credit is given to Schuettler. (In doing the links Brad Gilbert actually said that maybe with the news of being the year-end #1 that Roddick wasn't as hungry, no sense of urgency since Ferrero couldn't claim the top spot... that's garbage. You only have one win in a best of three tourney and you're about to face a guy on home soil who's beaten you twice? Another nice excuse.)
And to continue my rant - what's up with snarky Mardy Fish? Is it just me or does anytime he is anywhere around Rainer, Fish gets this smirk on his face and seems to be behaving poorly - most obviously playing Rainer at Cincy this summer and then during today's match he made some comment while the cameras were on him about a Rainer mis-hit... who spells Mardy with a D anyways? =-)
On the plus side, I was especially pleased to see that one-handed backhand show up a fair amount in the match, it's one of my favorites.
See, better mood already... off to deskunk... I'm sorry for the delay!!!
Okay, 2:45am - 95 pound dog done twice with deskunking formula, towel and blow-dried, and set up her bed in basement for the night... we'll see how it goes in a few hours. Just what I love, to be in an old Tshirt and shorts in the garage at 1:30am in 30 degree F (1 degree C) weather, washing a dog!
And here is my Rainer Speed Round... must get some sleep...
Schedule: Friday, November 14
12 Noon - (3)R Federer (SUI) vs (2)JC Ferrero (ESP)
(6)R Schuettler (GER) vs (7)C Moya (ESP)
7:00 PM - (1)A Roddick (USA) vs (4)G Coria (ARG)
Coverage
ESPN Friday 1-3pm (ET)
ESPN2 3-5pm (ET)
ESPN2 12:30am - 2:30 am (ET) Fri night/early Sat AM
Semifinals on Saturday, begin at 1pm (2pm ET ?)
ESPN2 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm (ET) and 11:00 pm -
1:00 am (ET)
We know Federer is in the semis, Rainer and Andre got in today, and Friday will bring the final player. Rainer plays Andre on Sat in the semis, with Federer v Roddick/Coria winner. Schuettler finished atop his group, certainly a major accomplishment, and his goal for the week - to make it to the semis. I do not see him "taking it easy" against Moya on Friday, that's just not his style. Also, Moya doesn't want to go home 0-3 here.
Here is Rainer v Moya info:
Moya in 2003:
Winner: Barcelona, Umag, Buenos Aires
Finalist: Vienna, Miami TMS
Semifinalist: Monte Carlo TMS, Bastad
Quarterfinalist: Roland Garros, Acapulco, Bangkok
2002 rank: 5th
Rainer 4-2
2002 Cincinnati TMS Hard Quarters 67(3) 16
2002 Scottsdale Hard Quarters 63 36 62
2002 Australian Open Hard R64 36 67(4) 61 76(5) 62
2001 Australian Open Hard R16 67(2) 36 46
2000 Wimbledon Grass R128 63 67(5) 63 62
1999 Chennai Hard Quarters 61 30
Here is the ATP's grid of the draw and results
Schuettler Shots... Photos
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Two headlines on Rainer's win:
Rainer Schuettler hat allen Grund zur Freude
Wahnsinn! Schuettler nicht zu stoppen
Today is Rainer v Roddick, in the US it will be on ESPN live at 1pm ET (noon Houston time). At 3pm coverage switches to ESPN2, it says on their site that will be Coria v Moya, but if the Schuettler/Roddick match goes long I can't imagine they wouldn't show the completion, as they did with Coria/Schuettler. Agassi/Nalbandian is the tape-delayed evening match.
I am swamped at work but still resisting the urge to ticker-watch so I can see the match 'live' in the evening from TiVo... so no updates until at least 9pm NY time I figure. I'm looking forward to seeing the match, for Rainer v Coria ESPN had some nice comments about him and Mary Carillo did a sit down interview with him on Sunday. They only showed a few moments, mainly about how Rainer is called the grey mouse in Germany compared to the other tennis greats that the country has known - maybe more today since there's the whole love-fest with Roddick, especially from Patrick McEnroe.
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Wednesday 12 November
Don't have much time to add anything now, but will throw in some pre-Roddick mentions as I find them.
Rainer Schuettler v Andy Roddick is scheduled for noon on Thursday in Houston, Coria v Moya is the evening singles match. Here are the ATP's notes from Wednesday evening: American legend Andre Agassi ensured that 21-year-old countryman Andy Roddick would claim the year-end No. 1 World ranking when he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Tennis Masters Cup Houston on Wednesday night. Agassi's win means that Ferrero cannot reach the semifinals and cannot pass Roddick in the ATP Champions Race. Roddick becomes the second youngest player in history (behind Lleyton Hewitt) to end the season No. 1.
The result also guaranteed that Roger Federer would reach the Masters Cup semifinals for the second consecutive year. Federer smashed his five-match losing streak against gritty Argentine David Nalbandian with a crushing 6-3, 6-0 victory.
And this pretty amazing fact pulled from Sports Illustrated's story of Agassi's win about Roddick: Now Agassi helped Roddick join the elite group who have ended a season on top. And only Connors in 1974 and Lleyton Hewitt in 2001 were younger than Roddick.
Roddick clearly had the potential as a teen to reach such heights, but as recently as 2000, he was winning the U.S. Open junior title.
He played just nine pro matches that year, finishing it ranked 158th. He ended 2001 at 14th.
Roddick began this season at No. 10, and he really broke through, reaching his first career Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open, repeating that placing at Wimbledon, and then winning his first major at the U.S. Open.
That's an incredible stat, a mere nine events in 2000 to number one at the end of 2003 (let alone that little "speedbump" of 14th at the end of 2001). It also shows that Rainer's climb to the top is also an impressive stat, to keep improving for such a stretch of years. Of course, I think the rather steady improvement of Schuettler's career is also a great story.
Here is the grid of everyone's results.
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Tuesday 11 November
Schuettler Defeats Coria
In what can only be described as an odd match, Rainer won his Masters Cup debut against Guillermo Coria, 63 46 62.
Coria, who from the start didn't appear 100% okay physically, was breathing heavily and then later in the match would grab his hip or rest waiting to return serve, he also took some extra time between points and called for the trainer in the 2nd as well. He was still showing the signs of recovering from the flu he had back in Paris.
After jumping out to a nice start, Rainer made some errors - as did Coria, and the match would waffle between hot and cold and nice rallies and off shots.
"I'm really happy that I fought through it and that I won the match," Schuettler said. "It feels great. I'm proud to be here for the first time and to play in the Masters Cup.
"I had a great season so far and I'm very, very happy that I won my first match. Now I don't have any pressure. Now I can enjoy every single point. I'm very confident now and I just try to go out, give my best and then at the end of the week, I see what's happening."
Two personal observations: 1) I was glad to see there was no blue shirt, and Fila gave Rainer a brand new red one - a pretty funky one I'd say. It's pretty busy - it has a ripple design on the front and back with whiter imprints that follow the shape of muscles. Rainer's seemed a little small because he was stretching it out a few times during the match. 2) It was great to see tennis on TV - it's the first time since Cincy that a Rainer match was on, and the first since the US Open that any tourneys were aired. Though TV is few and far between, I'll take it over a computer ticker any day.
Tuesday, November 11
R. Schuettler (GER) d G Coria (ARG) 63 46 62
A Roddick (USA) d C Moya (ESP) 62 36 63
Wednesday, November 12
1:00 PM - (3)R Federer (SUI) vs (8)D Nalbandian (ARG)
7:00 PM - (2)JC Ferrero (ESP) (5)A Agassi (USA)
Thursday, November 13
Rainer plays Roddick, noon Houston time
Schuettler Shots... Photos
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Monday 10 November
Here's the group breakdown:
RED GROUP
1 Andy Roddick USA
4 Guillermo Coria ARG
6 Rainer Schuettler GER
7 Carlos Moya ESP
BLUE GROUP
2 Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP
3 Roger Federer SUI
5 Andre Agassi USA
8 David Nalbandian ARG
Rainer faces Guillermo Coria on Tuesday at 1pm (Houston time), which is 2pm NY time.
Here are Rainer's results for 2003:
Winner: Lyon, Tokyo
Finalist: Costa Do Sauipe, Australian Open
Semifinalist: St. Petersburg, Canada TMS, Indian Wells TMS, Cincinnati TMS, Sydney
Quarterfinalist: Paris TMS, Rome TMS, Stuttgart, Munich, Gstaad, Chennai, Dubai
2002 rank: 33rd
Rainer info of note... Schuettler ended 2002 as the 33rd ranked player, he has jumped up to the 6th ranked player going into Houston. Moving up in the rankings is nothing new for Rainer, he already owns the ATP record for improving his ranking for now nine straight years.
In Brief:
Rainer's family is in Houston, which he is very happy about since they don't often get to see him play on the tour. It's the first time his parents are to see him play in America. He is staying with a family for the tournament and not at the player hotel - he's said how he enjoys their large dog, even though it may be named Nike(?).
Schuettler has said he looks forward to playing Roddick in front of a large and loud crowd (one of his fondest memories was vs. Roddick in the Australian Open), and he is glad that Agassi isn't in his group. Making the semis here is a goal for Rainer, but there's always a chance to come out as # 1.
Rainer was involved in a mix-up regarding passes to gain entry to the complex - the people at the gate would not let him in and he couldn't convince them he should be - so finally Rainer took them over to a giant promotional poster with his picture on it and he was able to get inside - where he belongs!
Totally my own observation... I hope there's no blue shirt for Rainer, sorry Fila - I think it's bad luck in the early matches. Maybe break out the blue over the weekend...
In the US, coverage can be found on ESPN and ESPN2 - here is their info on air dates and times. I can just picture on Tuesday during 'live' coverage them actually showing Monday's events and no Rainer.
Monday results:
Nalbandian defeats Ferrero, 63 61
Federer defeats Agassi, 67(3) 63 76(7) (saved 2 MP too)
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
I'll translate/add more to these after work.
Schuettler Shots... Photos
This is how the players came into Houston:
1st Andy Roddick 867
2nd Juan Carlos Ferrero 841
3rd Roger Federer 725
4th Guillermo Coria 646
5th Andre Agassi 605
6th Rainer Schuettler 601
7th Carlos Moya 436
8th David Nalbandian 392
(alternate: Mark Philippoussis)
Here is a good chart of the overall head-to-head (career) of these players, from the TMS Houston site.
I've gone through their records and here are the accomplishments of the players for 2003 and then Rainer's detailed career results against each:
Roddick:
Winner: Canada TMS, Indianapolis, London / Queen's Club, Cincinnati TMS, St. Poelten, US Open
Finalist: Houston, Memphis
Semifinalist: Paris TMS, Basel, Wimbledon, Australian Open, Washington
Quarterfinalist: Indian Wells TMS
2002 rank: 10th
Rainer 2-1
2003 Indian Wells TMS Hard Quarters 63 62
2003 Australian Open Hard Semifinals 75 26 63 63
2002 Hamburg TMS Clay R32 46 46
Ferrero:
Winner: Madrid TMS, Monte Carlo TMS, Roland Garros, Valencia
Finalist: US Open, Sydney, Bangkok
Semifinalist: Rome TMS, Barcelona
Quarterfinalist: Kitzbuhel, Rotterdam, Australian Open, Sopot
2002 rank: 4th
Rainer 2-3
2003 Rome TMS Clay Quarters 46 46
2003 Sydney Hard Semi 63 36 26
2002 Rome TMS Clay R64 26 34
2001 St. Petersburg Hard R32 76(10) 64
2001 Hong Kong Hard Quarters 63 76(6)
Federer:
Winner: Marseille, Wimbledon, Halle, Vienna, Munich, Dubai
Finalist: Rome TMS, Gstaad
Semifinalist: Canada TMS, Madrid TMS, Rotterdam
Quarterfinalist: Paris TMS, Miami TMS, Doha
2002 rank: 6th
Rainer 1-3
2002 Dubai Hard R16 63 61
2002 Australian Open Hard R32 67(6) 67(5) 46
2001 Milan Hard R32 36 46
1999 Toulouse Hard R32 67(4) 16
Coria:
Winner: Basel, Hamburg TMS, Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Sopot
Finalist: Monte Carlo TMS, Buenos Aires
Semifinalist: Roland Garros
Quarterfinalist: Cincinnati TMS, US Open, Auckland
2002 rank: 57th
Rainer 0-1
2002 Roland Garros Clay R64 46 26 36
Agassi:
Winner: Houston, Miami TMS, Australian Open, San Jose
Semifinalist: London / Queen's Club, US Open, Washington
Quarterfinalist: Canada TMS, Roland Garros
2002 rank: 2nd
Rainer 1-2
2003 Canada TMS Hard Quarters 26 62 63
2003 Australian Open Hard Finals 26 26 16
1998 Munich Clay R16 16 46
Moya:
Winner: Barcelona, Umag, Buenos Aires
Finalist: Vienna, Miami TMS
Semifinalist: Monte Carlo TMS, Bastad
Quarterfinalist: Roland Garros, Acapulco, Bangkok
2002 rank: 5th
Rainer 4-2
2002 Cincinnati TMS Hard Quarters 67(3) 16
2002 Scottsdale Hard Quarters 63 36 62
2002 Australian Open Hard R64 36 67(4) 61 76(5) 62
2001 Australian Open Hard R16 67(2) 36 46
2000 Wimbledon Grass R128 63 67(5) 63 62
1999 Chennai Hard Quarters 61 30
Nalbandian:
Finalist: Basel, Canada TMS
Semifinalist: Hamburg TMS, US Open
Quarterfinalist: Cincinnati TMS, Buenos Aires, Scottsdale, Australian Open
2002 rank: 12th
Rainer 3-4
2003 Canada TMS Hard Semis 63 26 26
2003 World Team Championship Clay RR Germany 46 57
2003 Hamburg TMS Clay R16 67(3) 26
2003 Australian Open Hard Quarters 63 57 61 60
2002 Moscow Carpet R32 76(6) 64
2002 Monte Carlo TMS Clay R64 67(1) 76(4) 26
2002 Indian Wells TMS Hard R32 46 64 62
Philippoussis:
Winner: Shanghai
Finalist: Wimbledon, Scottsdale
Semifinalist: Los Angeles
Quarterfinalist: Hamburg TMS, Tokyo
2002 rank: 72
Rainer 3-0
2003 Chennai Hard R16 62 61
2002 Indianapolis Hard R64 76(2) 76(4)
2001 Hong Kong Hard R16 76(5) 46 63
The points and money breakdown for Houston:
Prize Money: US$ 3,700,000
Kids Fund: US$50,000
Total Player Purse: US$ 3,650,000
Alternate: US$ 50,000
Participation Fee: US$ 90,000*
Round Robin Win: US$ 120,000
Semifinal Win: US$ 370,000
Final Win: US$ 700,000
Undefeated Winner: US$ 1,520,000
*Pro-rated on per match basis: US$45,000=1 match; US$70,000=2 matches; US$ 90,000=3 matches
ATP Champions Race Points:
RR Win: 20 points
Semifinal Win: 40 points
Final Win: 50 points
Undef. Winner: 150 points
Though the tourney has ended, I'm going to add this Monday as a place to update any further articles from Houston. The uproar over it has not subsided and there are also some legit Rainer articles, so anything extra I find I'll put under this day. (Updated 10am Thursday 20 Nov)
- Toronto's Globe and Mail article
- Hindustan Times piece on end of year rankings. (No Rainer mention)
- Hindustan Times on World Group
- Head products had this mention going into a meeting held in November to discuss 3rd quarter results: "Our business is organized into four divisions: Winter Sports, Racquet Sports, Diving and Licensing. We sell products under the Head (tennis, squash and racquetball racquets, alpine skis and ski boots, snowboards, bindings and boots), Penn (tennis and racquetball balls), Tyrolia (ski bindings), and Mares/Dacor (diving equipment) brands.
We hold leading positions in all of our product markets and our products are endorsed by some of the world's top athletes including Andre Agassi, Marat Safin, Rainer Schuttler, Marco Buchel and Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras." - San Francisco Gate had this wire report on final standings:
Money
1, Roger Federer, $4,000,680. 2, Andy Roddick, $3,227,342. 3, Juan Carlos Ferrero, $3,026,760. 4, Andre Agassi, $2,530,929. 5, Guillermo Coria, $1,971,162. 6, Rainer Schuettler, $1,875,002. 7, Carlos Moya, $1,322,935. 8, David Nalbandian, $1,280,383. 9, Max Mirnyi, $1,271,347. 10, Jonas Bjorkman, $1,085,932.
Champions Race
1, Andy Roddick, 907. 2, Roger Federer, 875. 3, Juan Carlos Ferrero, 841. 4, Andre Agassi, 685. 5, Guillermo Coria, 666. 6, Rainer Schuettler, 641. 7, Carlos Moya, 456. 8, David Nalbandian, 412. 9, Mark Philippoussis, 323. 10, Sebastien Grosjean, 322.
Entry System Rankings
1, Andy Roddick, 4535. 2, Roger Federer, 4375. 3, Juan Carlos Ferrero, 4205. 4, Andre Agassi, 3425. 5, Guillermo Coria, 3330. 6, Rainer Schuettler, 3205. 7, Carlos Moya, 2280. 8, David Nalbandian, 2060. 9, Mark Philippoussis, 1615. 10, Sebastien Grosjean, 1610. - Sport1's World Group mention
- Sportbild story on Schuettler. "Naturally I am terribly disappointed to not be in the final, but I am also proud on how I carried out. Nevertheless, none expected me to reach the semi-final," said Rainer. "Nothing was given to me. I gained everything the hard way." Coach Dirk Hordorff said how Rainer's 15 quarterfinal appearances this year was something "not even Boris Becker had in one season."
Schuettler will recover with 10 days rest on a Florida beach, then the preparation begins for the new season - which starts the first high point with an invitation tournament in China and the Australian Open at the end of January. "I also cannot bear too long without tennis," said Rainer. - Yahoo Deutschland nearly identical story
- Another Yahoo Deutschland piece on off-season plans. This could be a repeat.
- Houston Chronicle piece on possible ATP and WTA year-ends coming to Houston
- Guardian Unlimited editorial on men's tennis
- Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim's Mailbag had another double-Rainer mention. It's always worth a read, but here are the two excerpts: "... Anyway, how do you fix the bias? You'd like simply to appeal to decency and fairness. Short of that, I suppose you need to stress the economic impact of this jingoism. For instance, when the U.S. Open all but ignores Ferrero and Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian, naturally the television ratings are going stink when one of them makes the finals. You also wish the tours had more leverage. The NBA can (and does) tell its television partners, "you must put every team on television at least twice each season." If the ATP went to ESPN and said, "You must televise matches according to seeds even if that means Rainer Scheuttler's matches air before Agassi's," you'd hear the guffaws all the way in Stuttgart." and "... But, boy, it's a tough case to make. Tip your cap to Ferrero and Federer and Agassi and Schuettler and whomever else. But give Roddick his due as the best of 2003."
- Sport1 interview with Rainer
- Davis Cup bit on Spain's Houston guys
- Nurnberger Nachrichten commentary
- FAZ.net (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ) interview with Patrik Kuhnen as Masters started
- Frankfurter Rundschau piece from after Schuettler-Agassi match
- Sport.ard little piece on Rainer's 2004, he wants to play in the Olympic Games, etc
Sunday 16 November
- Netzeitung article
- N-TV.de interview
- Rhein Zeitung story
- Sport1 piece
- Sportgate piece
- Web.de mention
- TennisMagazin.de story on tourney site
- Houston Chronicle story had these blurbs: Exuberant fans - As Rainer Schuettler worked his way to a 7-5 first-set win over Andre Agassi on Saturday, Schuettler's personal cheering section stood at attention.
Five fans with T-shirts spelling out R-A-I-N-E-R in German flag colors began chanting Schuettler's name.
The fans cheering for Agassi followed suit and started chanting his name, but Agassi wasn't so appreciative of some of them. In the second game of the first set, Agassi hit a wayward forehand to tie the score at 15 and asked the referee to tell an onlooker to remove his sign, which read "We love Andre."
"The fans help at times, but I like to keep my focus," Agassi said. "It's great to be an American and play in America, because they're always for you."
Just a fan - After facing a week of criticism by some of the players for cheering Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, tournament promoter Jim McIngvale tried to be inconspicuous during Saturday afternoon's match between Agassi and Rainer Schuettler.
He left his front-row seat to stand in the top row of the bleachers among the fans to watch and quietly cheer Agassi. But his presence hardly went unnoticed, especially by Agassi.
"What matters to me is that an avid sports fan of tennis has the platform and the right to express his enthusiasm for the game," Agassi said. "And if it requires him to go sit up in the top row like he did with the real tennis nuts, you know, tennis fans that come out, then God bless him. I think tennis is served for him participating not only financially but also with that kind of spirit." - Houston Chronicle story on lack of media at event
- New Zealand Herald article
- NZ Herald piece from after Coria match
- South African story from after Rainer's Roddick win
- BBC piece on small location
- Scotsman article on the off-court issues
- Scotsman story on Agassi over Schuettler
- Australian story going into the semis
- Telegraph.uk piece after Roddick win
- Palm Beach Post story on media, Roddick, tennis in US
Saturday 15 November
Rainer's Season Comes to a Close
Schuettler fell to Agassi 75 06 64 in the semifinal of the Masters Cup, closing the book on an outstanding 2003 for the German.
"I beat the No. 1 player and the No. 4 player (Guillermo Coria) in the world here, and today I played good. No one before the tournament expected me to be in the semifinals. So I have no reason to be disappointed about the week," said Rainer.
I was hoping ESPN would have interviewed both players after the match, but they only spoke with Andre. Some quotes from him about the match against Rainer: "There were a lot of meat and potatoes points... it was humid at the start after the rain, the balls were heavy and collecting moisture and I was nervous to hit the ball too big - the last thing I wanted was to have him rely on his legs and just sort of settle in..."
The crowd, not surprisingly, was for Agassi, but it seemed that they were applauding fairly for Schuettler, and after all the great shots - no matter the player. I think Rainer picked up some additional fans with his quality play here this week. (Side note: it appeared that "Mattress Mack" watched the match from up high in the stadium, standing in the concourse area, and he was certainly rooting for Andre. At 45 in the 3rd he even looked to the heavens and said a little prayer. I didn't watch the Federer-Roddick match, don't know his actions for that one.) Even at the US Open, people were like "you're here to see who's match?" - I think that his name is out there more, and he deserves that. I saw most of the match with some fast-forwarding tonight after work, hoping to see the whole thing on Monday's day off. So far though, I think my favorite shot was that great (one-handed) backhand dropper to give Rainer set point in the first, how perfect was that? Some pretty tennis for sure.
Interesting tidbit of the week... Federer is a WWF/WWE fan - who woulda thunk it?! Also, that one of the 1st things Rainer did in Houston was check the German papers online to see what they're saying, he was glad that after Moya they weren't too brutal.
Well... on to some quick article links (I promised photos and will add them, I know I'm late on them)... a little crazy around here for me - my sister is in Mosul Iraq, which can be nervewracking, but I can't worry over things I can't control or else I'd lose my mind, but was very glad she was able to call before the news reported those two terrible helicopter crashes today to say she was okay. It's going to be a long year with her over there... one more day of work before I can put some time into completing these past few days of tennis, then I am going to figure out what sort of things to post during the "off-season" that goes by too quickly... my Saturday "To Do List" actually included 'have breakfast'
- AP report on Saturday as a whole
- Report specifically on Schuettler-Agassi
- Another wire combination
- Tourney's report on the match
- Netzeitung blurn on rain delay
- Netzeitung piece
- SkySports story
- Spiegel article
- Sport.ard blurb
- Sport1 report
- Sportbild story
- Sportgate's wire report
- TennisMagazin.de story
- Rainer's post-match comments
- Agassi's press conference
- Tourney site has little stories on groups of fans that won a contest to meet some of the players, here is the one on Schuettler. You may have seen this group on TV.
- Transcript of Rainer's post-match (v Moya)
- Moya's post-match comments
- Semi preview from tourney's site
- Houston Chronicle article on neighbors' complaints about the facility
- Sport1 article
- Netzeitung piece on the facility
- Sportgate story
- Rhein Zeitung story from Saturday
- Tennis-X had this Rainer mention: "NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS - Rainer Schuettler wouldn't say what was bothering him in his post-match conference after losing to Andre Agassi in the Masters Cup semis, but the consensus is it likely had something to do with the red-white-and-blue decked-out promoter of the event standing up cheering for Agassi the entire match... Props to ESPN for sticking with the Masters Cup final after the rain delay, even though they went to ESPN2... How bad was Jim McIngvale's speech during the closing ceremony. Next time "Mattress Whack", remember to wipe off the "i'm-pissed-because-an-American-didn't-win-my-event" look off your face and give genuine credit to Roger Federer, because he deserves it and he will be back." My opinion on the speech - he spoke way too long and then I can't believe ESPN cut away before Federer could speak, that wasn't right.
- Another Tennis-X blurb on Who's Got the Funk and Who's in the Trunk... Number 1 Funk was Federer, and the Trunk Number 1: "Mattress Mac" - The undisputed new face of disgrace on the ATP circuit. Don't we all secretly wish that no Americans make the '04 Masters Cup just to see his reaction?
Friday 14 November
Schuettler Stalls Against Moya
In a sort of 'dead rubber' match, Schuettler lost the final Red Group round robin match to Carlos Moya 75 64 and finishes atop his group with a 2-1 record. Rainer next faces Agassi in Saturday's first semifinal match (1pm Houston time). Roddick then takes on Federer in the other singles match of the day.
Against Agassi, here is how Rainer fared: 2003 Canada TMS Hard Quarters 26 62 63; 2003 Australian Open Hard Finals 26 26 16; 1998 Munich Clay R16 16 46. In 2003, Andre won Houston, Miami TMS, Australian Open, and San Jose; semifinalist in London / Queen's Club, US Open, and Washington; and a quarterfinalist at Canada TMS and Roland Garros. He finished 2002 as the 2nd ranked player.
Here's ESPN's coverage breakdown...
Friday ESPN 1-3 pm ET Federer-Ferrero
ESPN2 3-5 Rainer-Moya
ESPN2 Roddick-Coria 12:30am - 2:30am (Fri night/sat AM)
Saturday 3:30-5:30pm Rainer-Andre ESPN2
ESPN2 11pm-1am Federer-(winner)
- Netzeitung article
- Spiegel.de piece, mentions "Mattress Mack's" actions
- Sport.ard's same/similar article, also in Sportgate and TennisMagazin.de
- Sportbild piece
These were Friday, pre-Moya
- Sport.ard article on the "anti-star," also has an audio clip link on this page. Of course I have no idea what they are saying, give me a few chances to listen.
- Sport1 article
- TennisMagazin.de story
- Netzeitung story
- Article on Nalbandian's comments on favoritism
- Sportgate piece
- Another one from Sportgate
- N-TV.de piece
- Die Welt story, may need to register
- Web.de piece
- Another Web.de piece
- Third Web.de story
- Spiegel article
Some of the following may be the same wire reports or have similar themes... I'm just throwing them up here for now:
Thursday 13 November
Rainer Stops Roddick, In Semis
Schuettler put a damper in the plans of most tennis fans as he beat Roddick 46 76(4) 76(3) on Thursday. The win puts Rainer into the semis as the winner of the red group (coincidence that the 'red flash' wins the red group?) He faces Agassi on Saturday, a match he hoped for at the start of the week, but no countrywoman Steffi in the stands.
Well, it's after 1am for me, I just saw most of the fast-forwarded match after getting home from work at 11pm because I am a sucker for punishment... already worked 48 hours this week and don't have a day off until Monday, have to leave my house in 7 hours and one of my dogs just encountered a skunk. So... not much of a Rainer update this moment as I am searching for a good remedy for the dog... I will try to get some stuff up after the 'bath' since I am sure there will be tons of good articles, I'm hoping for 5 hours sleep at this point.
I am thrilled with the win, of course Patrick McEnroe couldn't even say anything about how maybe Rainer played a good match. He even said that there's no way Roddick should be losing to a guy like that. (Hmmm.... anybody remember Davis Cup of Roddick v Dominik Hrbaty??) I'm sorry, some may call the Oz Open a fluke or that Roddick was hurt, or he was hurt later in Indian Wells... call it what you will, but 0-3 just this year isn't an accident - and now, even with a "hot" and "healthy" Roddick, no credit is given to Schuettler. (In doing the links Brad Gilbert actually said that maybe with the news of being the year-end #1 that Roddick wasn't as hungry, no sense of urgency since Ferrero couldn't claim the top spot... that's garbage. You only have one win in a best of three tourney and you're about to face a guy on home soil who's beaten you twice? Another nice excuse.)
And to continue my rant - what's up with snarky Mardy Fish? Is it just me or does anytime he is anywhere around Rainer, Fish gets this smirk on his face and seems to be behaving poorly - most obviously playing Rainer at Cincy this summer and then during today's match he made some comment while the cameras were on him about a Rainer mis-hit... who spells Mardy with a D anyways? =-)
On the plus side, I was especially pleased to see that one-handed backhand show up a fair amount in the match, it's one of my favorites.
See, better mood already... off to deskunk... I'm sorry for the delay!!!
Okay, 2:45am - 95 pound dog done twice with deskunking formula, towel and blow-dried, and set up her bed in basement for the night... we'll see how it goes in a few hours. Just what I love, to be in an old Tshirt and shorts in the garage at 1:30am in 30 degree F (1 degree C) weather, washing a dog!
And here is my Rainer Speed Round... must get some sleep...
Schedule: Friday, November 14
12 Noon - (3)R Federer (SUI) vs (2)JC Ferrero (ESP)
(6)R Schuettler (GER) vs (7)C Moya (ESP)
7:00 PM - (1)A Roddick (USA) vs (4)G Coria (ARG)
Coverage
ESPN Friday 1-3pm (ET)
ESPN2 3-5pm (ET)
ESPN2 12:30am - 2:30 am (ET) Fri night/early Sat AM
Semifinals on Saturday, begin at 1pm (2pm ET ?)
ESPN2 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm (ET) and 11:00 pm -
1:00 am (ET)
We know Federer is in the semis, Rainer and Andre got in today, and Friday will bring the final player. Rainer plays Andre on Sat in the semis, with Federer v Roddick/Coria winner. Schuettler finished atop his group, certainly a major accomplishment, and his goal for the week - to make it to the semis. I do not see him "taking it easy" against Moya on Friday, that's just not his style. Also, Moya doesn't want to go home 0-3 here.
Here is Rainer v Moya info:
Moya in 2003:
Winner: Barcelona, Umag, Buenos Aires
Finalist: Vienna, Miami TMS
Semifinalist: Monte Carlo TMS, Bastad
Quarterfinalist: Roland Garros, Acapulco, Bangkok
2002 rank: 5th
Rainer 4-2
2002 Cincinnati TMS Hard Quarters 67(3) 16
2002 Scottsdale Hard Quarters 63 36 62
2002 Australian Open Hard R64 36 67(4) 61 76(5) 62
2001 Australian Open Hard R16 67(2) 36 46
2000 Wimbledon Grass R128 63 67(5) 63 62
1999 Chennai Hard Quarters 61 30
Here is the ATP's grid of the draw and results
- ESPN report. This was their main tease on the tennis page: The Problem With Rainer - Andy Roddick still can't defeat Rainer Schuettler. Instead of clinching a spot in the semifinals of the Masters Cup, Roddick fell to Schuettler 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) on Thursday. Shortly afterward, Roddick was formally presented the trophy for clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking. On the main ESPN page, this was the link name: Winless as No. 1: Roddick falls to Schuettler
- Yahoo Germany story
- Netzeitung story
- N-TV.de story
- TennisMagazin.de report after the win
- Sportgate report
- Tourney's recap
- Yahoo France story
- Rhein-Zeitung piece. Here was their sports main page view
- SkySports story
- Spiegel article
- Sport.ard story
- Sport1 piece
- Sportbild mention
- Sportgate story
- Second TennisMagazin.de mention
- Sports Illustrated's article
- Bild.de report
- Transcript of Rainer's post match press conference. Note the exchange on tiebreaks... (Rainer was 17-6 (73.9%) in tiebreaks going into this match, Roddick was 35-17 for 67.3% - just an example, I think, of the media not paying attention to the stats of other players. On the ESPN coverage McEnroe commented on what an impressive stat it was, but you could tell he wasn't aware of it until it came to that point in the 2nd set.)
- Roddick's post match transcript. I'm not out to knock Roddick, he seems like a nice kid, great knowledge of the sport's history, and his true emotion on winning the US Open was really incredible - I just have an issue with the media glare and the way it twists things. He had, as I would expect, nice comments on Rainer, such as: Q. What is it in particular about his game that seems to give you so much problems?
ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. You know, just, I mean, I think it's just the fact that he makes you work every point. He puts a lot of balls in the court. I still feel like I haven't had my best day against Rainer. So that's a little frustrating. But, you know, he just makes you work out there. I think what you see is what you get. Probably you're watching it, you think, "He's just putting a lot more balls in the court. He handles pace a lot better," which means you have to figure out different ways to win the point.
Q. He seems to be pretty shrewd about what he's trying to do with the point as well?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he goes out there. He's got to put his working boots on. He goes about it every day. It's pretty impressive.
Q. Was the wind affecting your play? Rainer said the wind bothered him.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, there was no doubt about it, it was pretty ugly tennis. I think the conditions had something to do with it. It's not like the wind was blowing one way or another. I felt like it changed directions about six times during the match. Maybe that accounted for some of it. But it's both ways. You know, like Rainer said, it goes both ways. So it's not an excuse if the other person has to put up with it as well. - Houston Chronicle interesting article on tennis' future
- Another Houston Chronicle article, more about Roddick with some Rainer thrown in
- USAToday piece on Roddick
- Wire story
Two headlines on Rainer's win:
Rainer Schuettler hat allen Grund zur Freude
Wahnsinn! Schuettler nicht zu stoppen
Today is Rainer v Roddick, in the US it will be on ESPN live at 1pm ET (noon Houston time). At 3pm coverage switches to ESPN2, it says on their site that will be Coria v Moya, but if the Schuettler/Roddick match goes long I can't imagine they wouldn't show the completion, as they did with Coria/Schuettler. Agassi/Nalbandian is the tape-delayed evening match.
I am swamped at work but still resisting the urge to ticker-watch so I can see the match 'live' in the evening from TiVo... so no updates until at least 9pm NY time I figure. I'm looking forward to seeing the match, for Rainer v Coria ESPN had some nice comments about him and Mary Carillo did a sit down interview with him on Sunday. They only showed a few moments, mainly about how Rainer is called the grey mouse in Germany compared to the other tennis greats that the country has known - maybe more today since there's the whole love-fest with Roddick, especially from Patrick McEnroe.
- Tourney's preview of Thursday's matches
- Netzeiting article
- Sport.ard piece
- Sport1 story
- Sportbild article
- Sportgate article
- Die Welt story, had this headline: "Rainer Schuettler wehrt sich gegen Psychotricks"
- TennisMagazin.de story
- Another TennisMagazin.de mention
- Bild.de had Rainer as a major story, primarily about how he carries a lucky stone with him.
Wednesday 12 November
Don't have much time to add anything now, but will throw in some pre-Roddick mentions as I find them.
Rainer Schuettler v Andy Roddick is scheduled for noon on Thursday in Houston, Coria v Moya is the evening singles match. Here are the ATP's notes from Wednesday evening: American legend Andre Agassi ensured that 21-year-old countryman Andy Roddick would claim the year-end No. 1 World ranking when he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Tennis Masters Cup Houston on Wednesday night. Agassi's win means that Ferrero cannot reach the semifinals and cannot pass Roddick in the ATP Champions Race. Roddick becomes the second youngest player in history (behind Lleyton Hewitt) to end the season No. 1.
The result also guaranteed that Roger Federer would reach the Masters Cup semifinals for the second consecutive year. Federer smashed his five-match losing streak against gritty Argentine David Nalbandian with a crushing 6-3, 6-0 victory.
And this pretty amazing fact pulled from Sports Illustrated's story of Agassi's win about Roddick: Now Agassi helped Roddick join the elite group who have ended a season on top. And only Connors in 1974 and Lleyton Hewitt in 2001 were younger than Roddick.
Roddick clearly had the potential as a teen to reach such heights, but as recently as 2000, he was winning the U.S. Open junior title.
He played just nine pro matches that year, finishing it ranked 158th. He ended 2001 at 14th.
Roddick began this season at No. 10, and he really broke through, reaching his first career Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open, repeating that placing at Wimbledon, and then winning his first major at the U.S. Open.
That's an incredible stat, a mere nine events in 2000 to number one at the end of 2003 (let alone that little "speedbump" of 14th at the end of 2001). It also shows that Rainer's climb to the top is also an impressive stat, to keep improving for such a stretch of years. Of course, I think the rather steady improvement of Schuettler's career is also a great story.
Here is the grid of everyone's results.
- Here is what Roddick said about Schuettler after he defeated Moya: Q. Is Schuettler next for you?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah.
Q. What is your mindset going into that? How do you think you need to react to his game?
ANDY RODDICK: A lot better than I have the last two times (smiling). I mean, he's obviously a very good player. I mean, he's been so consistent week in and week out this year. You know, that's a good thing about having a good coach, is that he's gonna come up with something special - I hope. I'll be able to try to figure out a game plan and go after it.
Q. What is it that has given him such a great year, do you think, his consistency or is there more to it than that?
ANDY RODDICK: Obviously, there's more to it. I think only he knows what's made the difference, from putting him from -- I think he was 500 for his career before this year, to becoming a Top 5 player. It's a pretty intense improvement. I think a lot of it has to do with confidence, you know. So much of tennis is between the ears. If he believes he can win it on a daily basis against anybody, that just improves you tenfold. I think from the outside looking in at his game, that's probably been the biggest difference. - Netzeitung article, mentions his parents
- Rhein Netzeitung report
N-TV mention
Yahoo France article
Tuesday 11 November
Schuettler Defeats Coria
In what can only be described as an odd match, Rainer won his Masters Cup debut against Guillermo Coria, 63 46 62.
Coria, who from the start didn't appear 100% okay physically, was breathing heavily and then later in the match would grab his hip or rest waiting to return serve, he also took some extra time between points and called for the trainer in the 2nd as well. He was still showing the signs of recovering from the flu he had back in Paris.
After jumping out to a nice start, Rainer made some errors - as did Coria, and the match would waffle between hot and cold and nice rallies and off shots.
"I'm really happy that I fought through it and that I won the match," Schuettler said. "It feels great. I'm proud to be here for the first time and to play in the Masters Cup.
"I had a great season so far and I'm very, very happy that I won my first match. Now I don't have any pressure. Now I can enjoy every single point. I'm very confident now and I just try to go out, give my best and then at the end of the week, I see what's happening."
Two personal observations: 1) I was glad to see there was no blue shirt, and Fila gave Rainer a brand new red one - a pretty funky one I'd say. It's pretty busy - it has a ripple design on the front and back with whiter imprints that follow the shape of muscles. Rainer's seemed a little small because he was stretching it out a few times during the match. 2) It was great to see tennis on TV - it's the first time since Cincy that a Rainer match was on, and the first since the US Open that any tourneys were aired. Though TV is few and far between, I'll take it over a computer ticker any day.
Tuesday, November 11
R. Schuettler (GER) d G Coria (ARG) 63 46 62
A Roddick (USA) d C Moya (ESP) 62 36 63
Wednesday, November 12
1:00 PM - (3)R Federer (SUI) vs (8)D Nalbandian (ARG)
7:00 PM - (2)JC Ferrero (ESP) (5)A Agassi (USA)
Thursday, November 13
Rainer plays Roddick, noon Houston time
- ATP/TMS recap of the match.
- Interview after the match with Rainer
- Yahoo.de mention
- Another Yahoo.de quick blurb
- Bild.de mention
- This was the NY Times mention: Earlier in the day in other Red Group action, Germany's Rainer Schuettler survived an uneven performance on what he claims is an uneven court beating Guillermo Coria, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Critical of what he labeled a slanted stadium court, Schuettler and his Argentine opponent both struggled to find their rhythm during the roller-coaster two hour, 25 minute match.
The Blue Group will take center stage on Wednesday as round-robin play continues with Switzerland's Federer taking on Argentine David Nalbandian and Andre Agassi facing Ferrero in a rematch of their U.S. Open semi-final. - ESPN's article on win. "To be honest with you, it was tough to get a rhythm today,'' said Schuettler, who made 18 fewer errors and had 31 winners to Coria's 24. "It was strange,'' Schuettler said. "In the first and third sets, he had to try to come back. And in the second set, I had to.''
- Sports Illustrated's report
- Netzeitung article
- Sky Sports report. "I'm proud to be there for the first time and play in the Masters Cup," said Schuettler. "I've had a great season and I'm very happy to have won my first match. Now I can enjoy myself, I don't have any pressure. I'm very confident now."
- Spiegel's report. Mentions how these two weeks that Rainer is spending in TX is normally 'vacation' in the post-season, and one main reason that his family is all in America for the 1st time at a tourney, so he can still spend that time with them.
- Sport.ard piece
- Sport1 report from Tuesday.
- Sportgate article.
- TennisMagazin.de story
- Houston Chronicle article
- Another Chronicle article dealing with Roddick, but had these Rainer mentions: Roddick earlier won the 2001 and 2002 U.S. Clay Court titles in Houston. He meets Schuettler in the next singles round on Thursday.
"It's not going to be easy," said Roddick. "You want to start well because every match is means so much. So much of tennis is between the ears and Schuettler was about a .500 player and now he's ranked No. 6. He's been so consistent week in and week out. Hopefully we can figure out a game plan and go after it."
The Australian Open finalist (where he lost to Andre Agassi), Schuettler said, "When I won my first title (at Tokyo) and I won another (at Lyon, France) and got in my first Grand Slam final and now I've had my first Masters Cup win, I now have no pressure. Just go out and enjoy it and see what happens. No matter what anyone else says, I have no pressure. I can go out and work hard and be successful next year as well." - India's Rediff article
Monday 10 November
Here's the group breakdown:
RED GROUP
1 Andy Roddick USA
4 Guillermo Coria ARG
6 Rainer Schuettler GER
7 Carlos Moya ESP
BLUE GROUP
2 Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP
3 Roger Federer SUI
5 Andre Agassi USA
8 David Nalbandian ARG
Rainer faces Guillermo Coria on Tuesday at 1pm (Houston time), which is 2pm NY time.Here are Rainer's results for 2003:
Winner: Lyon, Tokyo
Finalist: Costa Do Sauipe, Australian Open
Semifinalist: St. Petersburg, Canada TMS, Indian Wells TMS, Cincinnati TMS, Sydney
Quarterfinalist: Paris TMS, Rome TMS, Stuttgart, Munich, Gstaad, Chennai, Dubai
2002 rank: 33rd
Rainer info of note... Schuettler ended 2002 as the 33rd ranked player, he has jumped up to the 6th ranked player going into Houston. Moving up in the rankings is nothing new for Rainer, he already owns the ATP record for improving his ranking for now nine straight years.
In Brief:
Rainer's family is in Houston, which he is very happy about since they don't often get to see him play on the tour. It's the first time his parents are to see him play in America. He is staying with a family for the tournament and not at the player hotel - he's said how he enjoys their large dog, even though it may be named Nike(?).
Schuettler has said he looks forward to playing Roddick in front of a large and loud crowd (one of his fondest memories was vs. Roddick in the Australian Open), and he is glad that Agassi isn't in his group. Making the semis here is a goal for Rainer, but there's always a chance to come out as # 1.
Rainer was involved in a mix-up regarding passes to gain entry to the complex - the people at the gate would not let him in and he couldn't convince them he should be - so finally Rainer took them over to a giant promotional poster with his picture on it and he was able to get inside - where he belongs!
Totally my own observation... I hope there's no blue shirt for Rainer, sorry Fila - I think it's bad luck in the early matches. Maybe break out the blue over the weekend...
In the US, coverage can be found on ESPN and ESPN2 - here is their info on air dates and times. I can just picture on Tuesday during 'live' coverage them actually showing Monday's events and no Rainer.
Monday results:
Nalbandian defeats Ferrero, 63 61
Federer defeats Agassi, 67(3) 63 76(7) (saved 2 MP too)
- partial interview with Rainer from Sunday
- Full transcript of Sunday's interview
- TennisMagazin.de article about Houston
- Similar piece from Rhein Zeitung
- Sport1 article, I may have posted this before
- TennisMagazin.de small mention
- Sport.ard piece
- Netzeitung interview with Rainer
- Agassi article from Die Welt, may need to register
- Roddick article
- From Tennis-X.com, the "simple" ways the # 1 ranking can be decided...
ATP YEAR-END NO. 1 SCENARIOS
Andy Roddick will clinch No. 1 at the Masters Cup if Juan Carlos Ferrero goes 0-3 regardless of Roddick's results, or Roddick reaches semifinals and Ferrero doesn't, or Roddick defeats Ferrero in the final. Ferrero will clinch No. 1 if he goes 3-0 in round robin and Roddick goes no better than 1-2 and fails to reach semifinals, or Ferrero goes 2-1 in round robin and reaches the final while Roddick fails to reach semifinals, or Ferrero defeats Roddick in the final. Roger Federer will clinch No. 1 if he is the undefeated champion, or Roddick goes 0-3 and Ferrero goes no better than 1-2 and does not reach the semifinals. Get out your calculator. - Also from Tennis-X.com:
Bad news for the Westside Tennis Club, host venue for the Masters Cup in Houston, with Roger Federer and Rainer Schuettler giving conditions the thumbs-down before the event has even begun: "The court is leaning a little bit," Federer said. "It's strange. There's a little bit of waves on the court and the ball bounces strange. We all have the feeling that it's going downhill sideways." Schuettler said he also was unhappy with the conditions. "The court is definitely not great," he said. "For me, it's actually surprising the condition of the court, since it's new. I didn't expect that." Fed also had some choice words for the size of the stadium court: "Center court is quite small for my tastes for a Masters, but I don't decide that kind of stuff. It looks small. It's not so high. I don't know how many people fit, but I think for a Masters, you could fit more in there. I just think that more people could come out and watch and see the best eight. You've only got Top 10 guys here, and for this I think it should be a very big event with a big stadium." Oops, maybe they should return to burying the event in Hannover or Shanghai.
I'll translate/add more to these after work.
This is how the players came into Houston:
1st Andy Roddick 867
2nd Juan Carlos Ferrero 841
3rd Roger Federer 725
4th Guillermo Coria 646
5th Andre Agassi 605
6th Rainer Schuettler 601
7th Carlos Moya 436
8th David Nalbandian 392
(alternate: Mark Philippoussis)
Here is a good chart of the overall head-to-head (career) of these players, from the TMS Houston site.
I've gone through their records and here are the accomplishments of the players for 2003 and then Rainer's detailed career results against each:
Roddick:
Winner: Canada TMS, Indianapolis, London / Queen's Club, Cincinnati TMS, St. Poelten, US Open
Finalist: Houston, Memphis
Semifinalist: Paris TMS, Basel, Wimbledon, Australian Open, Washington
Quarterfinalist: Indian Wells TMS
2002 rank: 10th
Rainer 2-1
2003 Indian Wells TMS Hard Quarters 63 62
2003 Australian Open Hard Semifinals 75 26 63 63
2002 Hamburg TMS Clay R32 46 46
Ferrero:
Winner: Madrid TMS, Monte Carlo TMS, Roland Garros, Valencia
Finalist: US Open, Sydney, Bangkok
Semifinalist: Rome TMS, Barcelona
Quarterfinalist: Kitzbuhel, Rotterdam, Australian Open, Sopot
2002 rank: 4th
Rainer 2-3
2003 Rome TMS Clay Quarters 46 46
2003 Sydney Hard Semi 63 36 26
2002 Rome TMS Clay R64 26 34
2001 St. Petersburg Hard R32 76(10) 64
2001 Hong Kong Hard Quarters 63 76(6)
Federer:
Winner: Marseille, Wimbledon, Halle, Vienna, Munich, Dubai
Finalist: Rome TMS, Gstaad
Semifinalist: Canada TMS, Madrid TMS, Rotterdam
Quarterfinalist: Paris TMS, Miami TMS, Doha
2002 rank: 6th
Rainer 1-3
2002 Dubai Hard R16 63 61
2002 Australian Open Hard R32 67(6) 67(5) 46
2001 Milan Hard R32 36 46
1999 Toulouse Hard R32 67(4) 16
Coria:
Winner: Basel, Hamburg TMS, Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Sopot
Finalist: Monte Carlo TMS, Buenos Aires
Semifinalist: Roland Garros
Quarterfinalist: Cincinnati TMS, US Open, Auckland
2002 rank: 57th
Rainer 0-1
2002 Roland Garros Clay R64 46 26 36
Agassi:
Winner: Houston, Miami TMS, Australian Open, San Jose
Semifinalist: London / Queen's Club, US Open, Washington
Quarterfinalist: Canada TMS, Roland Garros
2002 rank: 2nd
Rainer 1-2
2003 Canada TMS Hard Quarters 26 62 63
2003 Australian Open Hard Finals 26 26 16
1998 Munich Clay R16 16 46
Moya:
Winner: Barcelona, Umag, Buenos Aires
Finalist: Vienna, Miami TMS
Semifinalist: Monte Carlo TMS, Bastad
Quarterfinalist: Roland Garros, Acapulco, Bangkok
2002 rank: 5th
Rainer 4-2
2002 Cincinnati TMS Hard Quarters 67(3) 16
2002 Scottsdale Hard Quarters 63 36 62
2002 Australian Open Hard R64 36 67(4) 61 76(5) 62
2001 Australian Open Hard R16 67(2) 36 46
2000 Wimbledon Grass R128 63 67(5) 63 62
1999 Chennai Hard Quarters 61 30
Nalbandian:
Finalist: Basel, Canada TMS
Semifinalist: Hamburg TMS, US Open
Quarterfinalist: Cincinnati TMS, Buenos Aires, Scottsdale, Australian Open
2002 rank: 12th
Rainer 3-4
2003 Canada TMS Hard Semis 63 26 26
2003 World Team Championship Clay RR Germany 46 57
2003 Hamburg TMS Clay R16 67(3) 26
2003 Australian Open Hard Quarters 63 57 61 60
2002 Moscow Carpet R32 76(6) 64
2002 Monte Carlo TMS Clay R64 67(1) 76(4) 26
2002 Indian Wells TMS Hard R32 46 64 62
Philippoussis:
Winner: Shanghai
Finalist: Wimbledon, Scottsdale
Semifinalist: Los Angeles
Quarterfinalist: Hamburg TMS, Tokyo
2002 rank: 72
Rainer 3-0
2003 Chennai Hard R16 62 61
2002 Indianapolis Hard R64 76(2) 76(4)
2001 Hong Kong Hard R16 76(5) 46 63
The points and money breakdown for Houston:
Prize Money: US$ 3,700,000
Kids Fund: US$50,000
Total Player Purse: US$ 3,650,000
Alternate: US$ 50,000
Participation Fee: US$ 90,000*
Round Robin Win: US$ 120,000
Semifinal Win: US$ 370,000
Final Win: US$ 700,000
Undefeated Winner: US$ 1,520,000
*Pro-rated on per match basis: US$45,000=1 match; US$70,000=2 matches; US$ 90,000=3 matches
ATP Champions Race Points:
RR Win: 20 points
Semifinal Win: 40 points
Final Win: 50 points
Undef. Winner: 150 points
posted by Sprtswrtr @ 11:07 AM
