Dubai Tennis Championships

Friday 5 March
Schuettler and Kohlmann fell in the quarters to Spanish pair Nadal and Robredo 67(4) 57. Nadal played his singles match earlier in the day, losing to Mikhail Youzhny (a familiar name to Rainer fans).

Thursday 4 March

• Okay, no tennis news yet, it's 1am NY time here, but I have to mention this... the NY Rangers have traded Brian Leetch. Stunned doesn't adequately describe my state of mind. Two-time Norris Trophy winner, Conn Smythe winner, Stanley Cup, top defensemen in team history in goals, assists and points, and aside from Bobby Orr, probably one of the greatest defensemen the game's ever seen - and it was even his birthday today! I've been a Ranger fan since I was like 7 years old, I knew Leetch from his high school days - he's a legend in my state, and for 17 years he's been with the Rangers... but no more. I don't know if I can still be a Ranger fan, they are in the process of a fire sale - he was one player that of all the pro leagues, a majority of people would have said that he'd be one to play for one team his entire career. I don't know if I can be a Toronto Maple Leafs fan - they better win the Cup now, I do know I have to buy all the NY papers later today to let this all sink in. When the Rangers won the Cup in '94, I had just moved into a new apartment and had no cable - which meant no games, so I drove around Indiana listening to a French-Canadian station call the game (I know zero French). After they won it, I drove 14 hours after a college final exam, got 90 minutes sleep, then took the train into NYC to enjoy the tickertape parade with a million other Ranger fans. Then the next day I drove back! Sidebar: my little sister passed out about 15 minutes before the Cup came by (that's what happens when you eat only grapes for breakfast) and I went against the medics' advice and wouldn't leave the parade for her to go to the hospital so that I could see the Cup in person. I also recall being in Canada the summer Leetch was drafted by the Rangers, I was at hockey camp and the only girl there - besides my scoring twice on Patrick Roy, the news that Leetch was going to NY was the capper of my camp experience. And now he's gone.


• College sports in tatters. Here's my other bit of sports news that couldn't wait, this is the tip of the iceberg regarding the out of control status of college sports. (When Dubai's over, I'll move all these over to a non-tennis posting.)

Tuesday and Wednesday
Doubles Win, Next Round Set

On Wednesday, the Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo upset third-seeded Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor in a hard-fought 57 76(4) 61 match. The German pair of Schuettler and Kohlmann will face off against the Spaniards - but another weird twist in the order of play has happened. Earlier today, the match was set to be Court 2's only match of the day for Thursday, but now, there is no scheduled play for Court 2 and no mention of this match, so I am assuming it will take place on some court on Friday.
Nadal, whom Tennis-X calls "The Prodigy", was a singles finalist this year in Auckland and paired with Robredo took home the Chennai doubles title and made it to the Round of 16 at the Oz Open. Rafael is certainly a player to watch, he and Rainer have never played one-on-one.
Robredo has had a nice early 2004 as well, in singles he reached the semis in Chennai and quarters in Sydney and Milan. In doubles action, there was the win with Nadal in Chennai and with Clement a Rotterdam semifinal appearance. Rainer and Robredo are 1-1 in career singles play, meeting both times in 2002 - Toronto {Robredo 63 36 76(4)} and Dubai {Schuettler 63 62}.

In first round doubles play, the German duo of Schuettler and Kohlmann defeated the native UAE wildcard pair of Bahrouzyan and Nader, 61 63. Next up for the Germans are the winner of the Rafael Nadal/Tommy Robredo v Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor match. That is the last match of the day on Court 1 on Wednesday, with Nestor and Knowles seeded third in the doubles draw.

There's Something About Rainer... Articles

• Tennis-X is at it again, here's two blurbs from their free-for-all section, one amusing and one with a shot at Rainer: "NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
  Dubai wildcard Omar Bahrouzyan was beaten 6-0, 6-0 in less than 45 minutes by Frenchman Gregory Carraz yesterday. With Bahrouzyan's loser's prize money of $7,580, he earned more than $175 per minute for his effort (thanks Agence France-Presse for the math)...As predicted, German Rainer Schuettler is imploding under the pressure of following up on his Top 8 break-out year in 2003 when he qualified for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup. Thus far in 2004 the German is 2-5 on the year with four first-round losses. "I think I am potentially playing to the same standard as last year -- I am playing well in practice," said Schuttler after bombing out yesterday in the first round at Dubai against a qualifier. "If I knew why I am not playing to my normal standard I would at least be a step towards it." Perhaps because, at 4-5 in the third set, you made two unforced errors and double faulted? Is that the standard? Yikes..."


• Other seeds "crashing out" (as the British press loves to say) are #2 Coria and #4 Nalbandian


• Yahoo Deutschland interview with Rainer from Dubai on the golf course


Other Tennis and Sports:

• ESPN report on Roddick's hissy fit


• ESPN report from mid-Feb about suggestion of shorter matches. My opinion, don't do it.


• MSNBC story on the lone NBA female ref

Schuettler Shots... Photos


Monday 1 March
(Another) Stormy Monday

Update: Schuettler, losing his fourth first round match in five tournaments, was defeated by Kohlschreiber 63 46 46.
"I thought if I can hold my serve long enough I would get my chances on his serve because he's not the best server in the world," said 20-year-old Kohlschreiber. "At 5-4 in the second and the third sets he made a double-fault and then one more easy mistake each time." Philipp also mentioned that his two previous matches on the surface may have helped him, as this was Rainer's first match of the event.
Rainer's comments: "I like to play in Dubai and Doha as the conditions are good, but today I simply played bad tennis. I had a lot of chances and I didn't take my chances or play good tennis. If I knew why I was playing so bad in matches then I would be a step forward from where I am. I am playing well in practice so if I keep practicing the way I am, I am sure I will be playing matches well again."
Fifth seed Philippoussis fell to Rochus and 6th seed Henman also lost to a qualifier today (Zib).
Let's double dog dare some tourney to put Schuettler's next first round match on a Tuesday, just for kicks.

Rainer returns to the court on Monday for his first round match against qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber. A countryman, Kohlschreiber was a quarterfinalist at Auckland this year, bowing out to Hrbaty 16 63 36. This will be the first time the two have faced one another. Schuettler currently ranks # 74 while Philipp is 103rd.
The top five seeds for the million dollar event are Federer, Coria, Rainer, Philippoussis and Nalbandian.
In doubles action, Rainer and Michael Kohlmann have again paired up to play. They face UAE wildcards Omar Bahrouzyan and Mahmoud Nader. The ATP results page has them listed for Monday, but the order of play says Tuesday as the third match of the day on Court 1 (play begins at 2pm).

There's Something About Rainer... Articles

• ATP recap of Dubai day one


• Reuters brief report


• BBC's article


• Fox Sports story from Dubai correspondents


• Khaleej Times report, the number one English daily paper from Dubai UAE


• ESPN wire report


• Same wire report on Sports Illustrated's site


• CNN International sport report on Dubai


• Sport1 article on the loss


• Sport.ARD piece from Monday


• Sportbild article


• TennisMagazin.de report on Schuettler's loss

NEW:
• Khaleej Times article from Tuesday


• Gulf News (another English paper from Dubai) piece about Day One


• Sport1 article from Tuesday


Other Tennis and Sports

• Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim's weekly tennis column. No Rainer mention in this one, but it does contain a chat with my all-time favorite tennis player, Monica Seles. Who, I will always argue, was absolutely robbed in the 1996 ESPY Awards in not winning Comeback Player of the Year. She triumphantly returned to tennis after her stabbing, Michael Jordan triumphantly returned to basketball after, um, a baseball experiment.


• Wertheim's column from 23 Feb


• ESPN bit on - surprise - Serena withdraws from another 'return to the tour' tourney


• ESPN brief on ATP's formation of a player panel on supplements

Schuettler Shots... Photos