Qatar Exxon Mobil Open
Thursday 8 January
German site Sport1 announced the voting results on the 2003 Sportsman, Sportswoman and Team of the Year... and as voted by the fans, Rainer won Sportsman! As the popular phrase in Germany goes... Super!! The seeded players continued to check out early in Doha as Roddick was beaten by Bjorkman (who plays a beautiful game) and Grosjean's goner... Henman is still alive, for now.
(Links updated midnight 11 Jan)
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Tuesday 6 January
Doubles action for Rainer also resulted in a first round loss in Doha as he and Mikhail Youzhny were defeated by Sargsian and Zimonjic 26 16. In singles play, a few other top seeds were bounced in their first matches of 2004... Younes El Aynaoui (6) fell to qualifier Escude 36 06, Philippoussis (3) lost to Koubek 63 16 46 and Massu (5) was beated by Ljubicic.
Monday 5 January
In returning to the courts for 2004, Rainer Schuettler was defeated by doubles partner and friend Mikhail Youzhny in the first round by the score 36 67(5). It was the first win by Youzhny over the German in four meetings, but maybe not 'shocking' in that their style of play matches up very well against one another.
Afterwards, Youzhny said "I played well, I'm happy that I won but it was very tough. I don't think Rainer played bad. It's tough to play your best tennis in the first match of the year." Schuettler was frank with his comments, "I wasn't aggressive enough, I think I made the mistake of taking the match a bit easy... This is a tough loss, I'm very disappointed. I think he played very good and I didn't play well in the tie-break. I definitely should have won the second set. I tried to rally but I played too defensive. I didn't make him run which I should have. It's completely different in practice than to play a match but it's the same for everyone."
They will take to the court on the same side in doubles play as they face Sargis Sargsian and Nenad Zimonjic. Their match is the third of the day on Court 2, after Chela v Rochus and Massu v Ljubicic. The event's own site does have a live scoreboard, but as of Monday it only listed Center and Court One. If I find another source (ie TennisMagazin) I'll post it here.
Unrelated observation: new Fila shirt in the style of the Houston one, but in blue... notice Mikhail's with the collar - with all the Fila players on tour, there will be a lot of "ripple-effect" this year on the courts.
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Schuettler Shots... Photos
Sunday 4 January
2004 action is underway for Rainer Schuettler this week as he participates in the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open in Doha in both singles and doubles. He is the 2nd seed in the event behind world number one Andy Roddick.
In doubles action, the top-ranked German is paired with friend Mikhail Youzhny - and the two face off against each other in the first round of singles play. They will take on Sargis Sargsian and Nenad Zimonjic, who reached the finals last May in St. Poelten, in the first round of doubles.
Here is the event's profile on Rainer and on Mikhail. Rainer won his first ATP title at Doha in 1999 as a qualifier when he defeated top seeded Tim Henman in three sets.
Schuettler has a 3-0 career advantage against Youzhny, with all three meetings taking place in 2003. They met in the St. Petersburg quarters (63 63), Lyon semifinals (63 36 75) and TMS Canada first round (62 64). Youzhny had a solid 2003 as the Russian finished in the Top 50 for the 2nd year in a row. Last year he reached the semis here at Doha and he also took Roddick to five sets in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Their first round matchup is scheduled for 4pm on Center Court in Doha, the only other high seed playing on the first day is Henman. A live ticker can be found through TennisMagazin.de.
One note about the photo at the top of the post... what can poor Schuettler do to catch a break here? He's won the event, he's the 2nd seed, he finished 6th in the world... and not even a little photo of him in the background on the publicity poster!
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Schuettler Shots... Photos
German site Sport1 announced the voting results on the 2003 Sportsman, Sportswoman and Team of the Year... and as voted by the fans, Rainer won Sportsman! As the popular phrase in Germany goes... Super!! The seeded players continued to check out early in Doha as Roddick was beaten by Bjorkman (who plays a beautiful game) and Grosjean's goner... Henman is still alive, for now.
(Links updated midnight 11 Jan)
- Sport1 announces that Rainer is the choice for 2003 Sportsman of the Year!
- Sport1 blurb on Haas and World Team
- Netzeitung's in-depth article on Schuettler's loss
- Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim's tennis column, complete with restaurant tips for the Oz Open
- SI's Reuters wire report on Rusedski's positive test
- Wertheim's 2004 predictions, including this one...
14. The catchphrase heard most often in 2004 will be:
a) "Why did I bother playing the Olympics?"
b) "That's Mr. Schuettler to you."
c) "Game, Set, Match, Miss Loit."
d) "I'm Brian Fellows." - ONE Sport (New Zealand) recap with Reuters
- Sydney Morning Herald tennis review
- Read Sport (UK) piece on Roddick
- The Australian article on the loss, may be similar to one posted from that day
- Independent.co.uk story, same info but more details in the quotes
- Fox Sports Australia reporting that Rainer is among the entries for ABN Amro
- Reuters UK tennis update
- The Age (Australian) piece on Roddick's loss and the dalling seeds
NEW Other links and mentions that I came across during week...
Sports Network brief wire report
Tuesday 6 January
Doubles action for Rainer also resulted in a first round loss in Doha as he and Mikhail Youzhny were defeated by Sargsian and Zimonjic 26 16. In singles play, a few other top seeds were bounced in their first matches of 2004... Younes El Aynaoui (6) fell to qualifier Escude 36 06, Philippoussis (3) lost to Koubek 63 16 46 and Massu (5) was beated by Ljubicic.
Monday 5 January
In returning to the courts for 2004, Rainer Schuettler was defeated by doubles partner and friend Mikhail Youzhny in the first round by the score 36 67(5). It was the first win by Youzhny over the German in four meetings, but maybe not 'shocking' in that their style of play matches up very well against one another.
Afterwards, Youzhny said "I played well, I'm happy that I won but it was very tough. I don't think Rainer played bad. It's tough to play your best tennis in the first match of the year." Schuettler was frank with his comments, "I wasn't aggressive enough, I think I made the mistake of taking the match a bit easy... This is a tough loss, I'm very disappointed. I think he played very good and I didn't play well in the tie-break. I definitely should have won the second set. I tried to rally but I played too defensive. I didn't make him run which I should have. It's completely different in practice than to play a match but it's the same for everyone."
They will take to the court on the same side in doubles play as they face Sargis Sargsian and Nenad Zimonjic. Their match is the third of the day on Court 2, after Chela v Rochus and Massu v Ljubicic. The event's own site does have a live scoreboard, but as of Monday it only listed Center and Court One. If I find another source (ie TennisMagazin) I'll post it here.
Unrelated observation: new Fila shirt in the style of the Houston one, but in blue... notice Mikhail's with the collar - with all the Fila players on tour, there will be a lot of "ripple-effect" this year on the courts.
- ATP recap of the day
- Sport.ard report on Rainer and Kiefer's loss
- TennisMagazin.de piece from Doha
- Sport1 article about the loss
- Netzeitung article
- Another Netzeitung piece
- Netzeitung interview with Rainer about the year, he stated that a successful 2004 would be: "If I remained high in the Top Ten, if I won a big tournament, if I successfully was in the Olympic Games and if Germany plays again in the World Group of Davis Cup."
- Netzeitung piece on Doha as a venue
- Sportgate story
- Die Welt article, similar to the Netzeitung one
- Sportbild story
- Sports Illustrated brief wire report
- ESPN article on Roddick
- ESPN report on the Wimbledon roof plans... don't hold your breath, it'll be 2009 before it's up
Sunday 4 January
2004 action is underway for Rainer Schuettler this week as he participates in the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open in Doha in both singles and doubles. He is the 2nd seed in the event behind world number one Andy Roddick.
In doubles action, the top-ranked German is paired with friend Mikhail Youzhny - and the two face off against each other in the first round of singles play. They will take on Sargis Sargsian and Nenad Zimonjic, who reached the finals last May in St. Poelten, in the first round of doubles.
Here is the event's profile on Rainer and on Mikhail. Rainer won his first ATP title at Doha in 1999 as a qualifier when he defeated top seeded Tim Henman in three sets.
Schuettler has a 3-0 career advantage against Youzhny, with all three meetings taking place in 2003. They met in the St. Petersburg quarters (63 63), Lyon semifinals (63 36 75) and TMS Canada first round (62 64). Youzhny had a solid 2003 as the Russian finished in the Top 50 for the 2nd year in a row. Last year he reached the semis here at Doha and he also took Roddick to five sets in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Their first round matchup is scheduled for 4pm on Center Court in Doha, the only other high seed playing on the first day is Henman. A live ticker can be found through TennisMagazin.de.
One note about the photo at the top of the post... what can poor Schuettler do to catch a break here? He's won the event, he's the 2nd seed, he finished 6th in the world... and not even a little photo of him in the background on the publicity poster!
- ATP's preview of Doha
- One the ATP's homepage their profile on "One to Watch" is none other than... "RAINER SCHUETTLER - Rainer Schuettler compiled his best pro season in 2003 by finishing in the Top 10 for the first time and No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race. He plays at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open this week."
- Peninsula Qatar piece on players preparing for the tourney
- Sportbild article has Schuettler info in last paragraph
- Guardian piece on Henman with a Schuettler blurb
- SportingLife.com piece on Henman as well
- Mercury News piece on Federer with some little 2004 previews for the ATP and WTA
- Tennis-X story on 2004 action starting this week, and have now dubbed him Rainer "I'm Going Back to Houston" Schuettler. Be sure to check out their link at the end of the piece on British tennis
- Peninsula Qatar article on eve of event
Sport.ard brief bit on how he faces Mikhail in the first round
posted by Sprtswrtr @ 9:23 PM
