Tennis Masters Monte Carlo
Sunday 25 April
Coria Clay Streak Continues
Today Guillermo Coria defeated Rainer Schuettler 62 61 63 to claim his second TMS title and continued his great clay run. He hasn't lost a match since last year's French Open semifinal loss to Verkerk (remember the racquet throwing incident?), and the win today marks his 26th straight on this surface.
Schuettler took a time out to have some blisters on his right hand checked out, and also debated a call during the match - but no photography this time around.
"He's just playing unbelievable tennis," Schuettler said of his conqueror. "He's very confident. Right now he's on top of his game. "But I will never forget the experience of playing on the center court with so many people. I hope I will forget the result but not the atmosphere out there."
(German word of the week: gleichgewichtsstoerungen)
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Schuettler Shots... Photos
Saturday 24 April
Rainer Schuettler will take on Guillermo Coria in the finals of the Monte Carlo TMS as the German defeated Moya in a tight 76(5) 64 semifinal. They play at 2:30PM on Court Central on Sunday, which also happens to be Schuettler's birthday. It will be Rainer's first appearance in a TMS final while Coria is hoping to take home another TMS trophy.
This will be their third career meeting - Rainer won in Houston in November 2003 at the Masters Cup in their group play (63 46 62), while Coria took their first match at the 2002 French Open (46 26 36). This season, Coria has won Buenos Aires, was in the finals at Miami TMS and reached the quarterfinals at the Indian Wells TMS. He has not lost a match on clay in 25 outings, since the semis at the French Open last year.
**US fans, here's the first time to see a Schuettler match on TV this year (not counting Aus Open highlights and the 43 people who have the Tennis Channel)... ESPN2 on Tuesday April 27 from 1:30 - 2:30 AM (late Monday night/early Tues AM).
**On a site note, yesterday you guys broke the record for most hits in a day, surpassing the mark from back at the Houston Masters Cup - thanks! Glad so many people find the site and enjoy it!
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Schuettler Shots... Photos
Friday 23 April
Schuettler moved into the semis for the first time this year with a quick defeat of Tim Henman today, 63 61. The fourth seeded German now faces Carlos Moya, the fifth seed (and current holder of 4th in the ATP rankings) in a Saturday face-off. Moya advanced after beating Davydenko 64 76(4). The other semifinal will have Safin (def A. Martin) taking on Coria (def Nalbandian).
Schuettler and Moya have met 7 times with Rainer holding a 4-3 edge. In all but two matches, they've met in a grand slam or TMS contest, they've also met three times in the quarters and this will be their first head-to-head semifinal. Their most recent faceoff was at the Tennis Masters Cup where Moya won 75 64, it was Rainer's only loss in his group of play before falling to Agassi in the semifinals. I would never say that Schuettler gave up, but he was coming off a win against Roddick and was a lock for the semis, so a lot of 'tennis people' believed that he was only going to play two sets that day. Here are the full results of their meetings: 2003 Tennis Masters Cup Hard Houston RR Moya 57 46; 2002 Cincinnati TMS Hard Q Moya 67(3) 16; 2002 Scottsdale Hard Q Schuettler 63 36 62; 2002 Australian Open Hard R64 Schuettler 36 67(4) 61 76(5) 62; 2001 Australian Open Hard R16 Moya 67(2) 36 46; 2000 Wimbledon Grass R128 Schuettler 63 67(5) 63 62; and 1999 Chennai Hard Q Schuettler 61 30.
In 2004, Moya was won Chennai and Acapulco, was a finalist in Sydney and Buenos Aires and a quarterfinalist at the Miami TMS.
The match is the second of the day on Court Central, following the 2PM start of Safin/Coria.
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Schuettler Shots... Photos
More shots added Sunday:
Thursday 22 April
"Apologies" to the British and Aussie press, but there will be no Hewitt vs Henman showdown as Rainer Schuettler defeated Lleyton Hewitt today 64 36 64 to advance to the quarterfinals of TMS Monte Carlo. Schuettler will face Tim Henman, a winner as well today over 9th seeded Massu 36 64 63. Previously, the sixth seeded Henman defeated Sanchez 63 67(8) 63 and Spadea 67(5) 64 76(5). They are now scheduled for Friday at 2:30 Court des Princes, and they are the only match of the day on that court.
Against Hewitt, Rainer was down a set and 03 in the third... but the German stormed back and took the match. Schuettler also took a photo while on the court after arguing a call that he said was clearly out but allowed Hewitt to save a break. As Reuters reported, "I took a picture because the ball was clearly out," Schuettler said, "we have fantastic equipment to judge balls these days and we see mistakes like this." Schuettler was 2-1 up in the second set and a break would have allowed him to lead 3-1 and take a giant step towards match victory. On break point, the German judged Hewitt's serve long but the chair umpire checked the mark and awarded the point to the Australian. To everybody's surprise, Schuettler fumbled in his bag, seized a disposable camera and took a picture of the mark as evidence of his good faith. He received a warning and appeared to lose his momentum as Hewitt went on to win eight of the next nine games. "Everybody complains about tennis getting boring and when someone does something out of the ordinary, he receives a warning. "The crowd laughed but not the umpire. It's a shame," Schuettler said.
It will be the sixth time the two have played and Henman holds a 3-2 edge. Interestingly, the two have not played since 2001, though they did play in an exhibition after the 2003 season (Henman won that match). Their career head to heads are: 2001 Indian Wells TMS Hard R64 Henman 26 75 67(4); 2000 Australian Open Hard R64 Henman 26 14 (Schuettler retired due to stomach pull); 1999 Doha Hard F Schuettler 64 57 61; 1998 London Carpet R16 Henman 64 36 46; and 1998 Split Carpet R32 Schuettler 63 16 63.
This season Henman was a finalist at Indian Wells and a semifinalist at Doha and Rotterdam.
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Schuettler Shots... Photos
Wednesday 21 April
Schuettler eased into the third round today with a 61 62 win over qualifier Jean-Rene Lisnard. Thursday brings no rest as his next match against 16th seeded Lleyton Hewitt will be played in the afternoon. They are the 4th match of the day on Court Central, where play begins at 10AM. Ahead of them are Coria/Pavel, Athurs/Safin and Santoro/Nalbandian.
Hewitt and Schuettler are 1-1 in their two meetings, Rainer won in 2000 at Adelaide in Davis Cup competition 26 63 64 while Hewitt took their most recent match this year in the Rotterdam quarters 67(5) 36. Hewitt has won both Sydney and Rotterdam this season. Hewitt saved two match points in Monte Carlo against Gaudio before winning 16 76(5) 61. Schuettler has been recovering from the flu, and getting off the court quickly should help, the match lasted 65 minutes and he was pleased with both his serve and bacnhand. Hewitt comes into Thursday with who has played two three-setters.
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Tuesday 20 April
Order of Play is out for Wednesday and Schuettler takes on Lisnard on Court des Princes. Play begins at 10AM and their match is the 4th of the day.
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Monday 19 April
Today Rainer Schuettler defeated Gustavo Kuerten in their first round match by the score of 76(3) 63 (and on a Monday no less!). Eurosport has a play-by-play of the match in the margins of this link.
In the second round, Schuettler will take on Frenchman qualifier Jean-Rene Lisnard, who defeated Tomas Berdych 75 63, most likely on Wednesday.
Lifetime, the two are an even 2-2 against one another. Lisnard took their first two meetings (2003 Chennai Hard Q 62 75 and 2002 US Open Hard R128 36 67(2) 64 40), while Rainer has won the most recent pair (2003 St. Petersburg Hard R32 76(5) 61 and 2003 Roland Garros Clay R64 46 62 64 60). This season Lisnard has advanced to the quarterfinals in Chennai.
There's Something About Rainer... Articles
Schuettler Shots... Photos
TMS Monte Carlo
Sunday 18 April
Rainer Schuettler - the fourth seed - next heads to Monte Carlo for another TMS event, and though Agassi and Federer aren't playing here, the tennis matchups are good ones. Monday brings another first round match for Schuettler, who will face Gustavo Kuerten on Court Central. This year Kuerten has won Costa do Sauipe, was a finalist at Vina del Mar and a semifinalist in Auckland. They are the third match of the day and play begins at 10am, live scores link through the event's main page and I'll check the German sites for one. The top three seeds are Roddick, JCFerrero and Coria while rounding out the top ten are Moya, Henman, Nalbandian, Grosjean, Massu and Srichaphan.
Lifetime, Rainer is 1-3 against Guga with their last meeting coming in 2003's Costa do Sauipe where the German won in the semifinals 64 26 75. Kuerten won the first three matches, 2003 Indian Wells 62 36 62, 2000 in the Sydney Olympic Games 64 64 and in Hamburg in 1999, 64 63. The Schuettler-Kuerten winner will meet a qualifier in the second round, either Tomas Berdych or Jean-Rene Lisnard.
Coria Clay Streak Continues
Today Guillermo Coria defeated Rainer Schuettler 62 61 63 to claim his second TMS title and continued his great clay run. He hasn't lost a match since last year's French Open semifinal loss to Verkerk (remember the racquet throwing incident?), and the win today marks his 26th straight on this surface.
Schuettler took a time out to have some blisters on his right hand checked out, and also debated a call during the match - but no photography this time around.
"He's just playing unbelievable tennis," Schuettler said of his conqueror. "He's very confident. Right now he's on top of his game. "But I will never forget the experience of playing on the center court with so many people. I hope I will forget the result but not the atmosphere out there."
(German word of the week: gleichgewichtsstoerungen)
- CNN International article, a little harsh, but does report on the injury call on Rainer's right hand and the line debate
- San Francisco Gate wire report of the finals
- Tennis-X little blurb before the finals, also states that less than 4% of the ATP Fantasy Teams have Rainer on their squads while 76% have Coria. (I am in that 4% group!)
- KOTV (Oklahoma station) report on Sunday's match
- Reuters report
- SportingLife on Coria's win
- Washington Times report from the finals
- Independent (UK) piece with a nice background to it
- Telegraph article mainly on Coria
- Sport1 article from Sunday
- Sport.ard report
- Report from the event's site
- Next up for Schuettler, the BMW Open
Saturday 24 April
Rainer Schuettler will take on Guillermo Coria in the finals of the Monte Carlo TMS as the German defeated Moya in a tight 76(5) 64 semifinal. They play at 2:30PM on Court Central on Sunday, which also happens to be Schuettler's birthday. It will be Rainer's first appearance in a TMS final while Coria is hoping to take home another TMS trophy.
This will be their third career meeting - Rainer won in Houston in November 2003 at the Masters Cup in their group play (63 46 62), while Coria took their first match at the 2002 French Open (46 26 36). This season, Coria has won Buenos Aires, was in the finals at Miami TMS and reached the quarterfinals at the Indian Wells TMS. He has not lost a match on clay in 25 outings, since the semis at the French Open last year.
**US fans, here's the first time to see a Schuettler match on TV this year (not counting Aus Open highlights and the 43 people who have the Tennis Channel)... ESPN2 on Tuesday April 27 from 1:30 - 2:30 AM (late Monday night/early Tues AM).
**On a site note, yesterday you guys broke the record for most hits in a day, surpassing the mark from back at the Houston Masters Cup - thanks! Glad so many people find the site and enjoy it!
- Audio clips from Monte Carlo can be found here, three from Rainer from Saturday
- Event's news report on Rainer's win
- Rainer's post match transcript
- Moya's comments after the match
- Coria's post match comments
- Sport.ard article on the win
- Sport1 report from Saturday
- Channel News Asia article
- MSNBC report on Rainer to face Coria
- SportingLife (UK) article from Saturday
- Birmingham (UK) similar piece on the finals matchup
- Daily Times (Pakistan) brief
li> Reuters report on the win
Friday 23 April
Schuettler moved into the semis for the first time this year with a quick defeat of Tim Henman today, 63 61. The fourth seeded German now faces Carlos Moya, the fifth seed (and current holder of 4th in the ATP rankings) in a Saturday face-off. Moya advanced after beating Davydenko 64 76(4). The other semifinal will have Safin (def A. Martin) taking on Coria (def Nalbandian).
Schuettler and Moya have met 7 times with Rainer holding a 4-3 edge. In all but two matches, they've met in a grand slam or TMS contest, they've also met three times in the quarters and this will be their first head-to-head semifinal. Their most recent faceoff was at the Tennis Masters Cup where Moya won 75 64, it was Rainer's only loss in his group of play before falling to Agassi in the semifinals. I would never say that Schuettler gave up, but he was coming off a win against Roddick and was a lock for the semis, so a lot of 'tennis people' believed that he was only going to play two sets that day. Here are the full results of their meetings: 2003 Tennis Masters Cup Hard Houston RR Moya 57 46; 2002 Cincinnati TMS Hard Q Moya 67(3) 16; 2002 Scottsdale Hard Q Schuettler 63 36 62; 2002 Australian Open Hard R64 Schuettler 36 67(4) 61 76(5) 62; 2001 Australian Open Hard R16 Moya 67(2) 36 46; 2000 Wimbledon Grass R128 Schuettler 63 67(5) 63 62; and 1999 Chennai Hard Q Schuettler 61 30.
In 2004, Moya was won Chennai and Acapulco, was a finalist in Sydney and Buenos Aires and a quarterfinalist at the Miami TMS.
The match is the second of the day on Court Central, following the 2PM start of Safin/Coria.
- Audio clips from Rainer after the Henman match
- Transcript of Rainer post-match from Friday, includes a mini-Moya scouting report and mention of how he (Rainer) felt he played some of his best tennis, "I think I played, yeah, nearly perfect today. I was serving well, I was returning well. I put with every ball pressure on him. So today was, for me, yeah, a very, very good match."
- Henman's transcript, says these positive things about Rainer's game: "He's beaten me on pretty much any surface before. So on clay, he's been playing really, really well this week. You look at the people he's beaten, and all credit to him, he's had a rough start to the year, but he's the type of guy that doesn't, you know, doesn't seem to let it affect him. He just keeps working very hard and doing the things that worked for him last year. And, you know, certainly he's turned it around this week." On the reduced volleying: "You look at the way he returns, and you look at the way the other guys that I've played against return. He's a guy that his first step, as I'm throwing the ball up, is forward. He's taking the ball early. And, obviously, that gives me a lot less time to get into the net. Whereas you look at a Sanchez or a Massu, they stand probably four feet behind the baseline, and a lot of times their first step is backwards. That's always going to be a tougher type of person to serve against. Then back that up with his speed and his consistency, it's always going to be a tough match."
- Moya's post match, with this about next facing Schuettler: "I think he's playing at his level now. What happened at the beginning of the year was not normal. He could not forget to play tennis suddenly, so I knew that sooner or later he was gonna start to play well. Here he beat Guga, he beat Henman. So he must be playing very well. I respect him a lot. Maybe his favorite surface is not clay, but, still, he has the game that he can play well here. I hope my experience on clay is gonna help me to win that match, but it's gonna be very tough."
- SportingLife report on the match
- SportingLife article on Henman being too fatigued in the match
- Telegraph (UK) piece on the match
- Sports Illustrated AP report on the four advancing to the semis
- ESPN article on the semis, at end mentions that Moya's the favorite but that he won't take Schuettler lightly
- Sport1 report, has these Rainer quotes: "The victory against Hewitt was so far my most valuable one this year. I now have the feeling again that I can succeed in close situations at any time. I didn't play bad tennis in the first months, but simply didn't have this strength with the big points that were there last year."
- Sport.ard piece on Friday's win
- Reuters update on match outcome
- BBC bit on the win
- The Sentinel (UK)
- This is London brief on upcoming match
- ABC Sports (Aussie) on Hewitt's losing
- Telegraph (UK) piece on Henman reaching semis
- The Age (Aussie) on Rainer beating Lleyton
- Independent (UK) on Henman's weird quarterfinal day
- BBC brief on Hewitt back on clay
- Eurosport report on the win over Hewitt
- International Herald Tribune recap of Thursday's matches
- The Australian report on the semis
- International Herald Tribune piece on the foursome
- Tennis-X report on the semifinals
These are more stories from the win over Hewitt:
More shots added Sunday:
Thursday 22 April
"Apologies" to the British and Aussie press, but there will be no Hewitt vs Henman showdown as Rainer Schuettler defeated Lleyton Hewitt today 64 36 64 to advance to the quarterfinals of TMS Monte Carlo. Schuettler will face Tim Henman, a winner as well today over 9th seeded Massu 36 64 63. Previously, the sixth seeded Henman defeated Sanchez 63 67(8) 63 and Spadea 67(5) 64 76(5). They are now scheduled for Friday at 2:30 Court des Princes, and they are the only match of the day on that court.
Against Hewitt, Rainer was down a set and 03 in the third... but the German stormed back and took the match. Schuettler also took a photo while on the court after arguing a call that he said was clearly out but allowed Hewitt to save a break. As Reuters reported, "I took a picture because the ball was clearly out," Schuettler said, "we have fantastic equipment to judge balls these days and we see mistakes like this." Schuettler was 2-1 up in the second set and a break would have allowed him to lead 3-1 and take a giant step towards match victory. On break point, the German judged Hewitt's serve long but the chair umpire checked the mark and awarded the point to the Australian. To everybody's surprise, Schuettler fumbled in his bag, seized a disposable camera and took a picture of the mark as evidence of his good faith. He received a warning and appeared to lose his momentum as Hewitt went on to win eight of the next nine games. "Everybody complains about tennis getting boring and when someone does something out of the ordinary, he receives a warning. "The crowd laughed but not the umpire. It's a shame," Schuettler said.
It will be the sixth time the two have played and Henman holds a 3-2 edge. Interestingly, the two have not played since 2001, though they did play in an exhibition after the 2003 season (Henman won that match). Their career head to heads are: 2001 Indian Wells TMS Hard R64 Henman 26 75 67(4); 2000 Australian Open Hard R64 Henman 26 14 (Schuettler retired due to stomach pull); 1999 Doha Hard F Schuettler 64 57 61; 1998 London Carpet R16 Henman 64 36 46; and 1998 Split Carpet R32 Schuettler 63 16 63.
This season Henman was a finalist at Indian Wells and a semifinalist at Doha and Rotterdam.
- Reuters (UK) recap of the match and Thursday
- Reuters (UK) story on Rainer the photographer
- Rainer's post-match interview
- Hewitt's post-match transcript
- Sport1 article on the win
- Sport.ard report from Thursday
- Sportbild brief piece from Monte Carlo
- Recap from the event's own site
- Tennis-X piece on some results, great reading about Safin... he's baaack
- Tennis-X report on Monte Carlo's all-time Top Ten
- Reuters (UK) brief on Henman advancing to the quarters
- The Age (Aussie) report on Hewitt advancing to face Rainer
- Rediff (India) update on Wednesday's winners
Wednesday 21 April
Schuettler eased into the third round today with a 61 62 win over qualifier Jean-Rene Lisnard. Thursday brings no rest as his next match against 16th seeded Lleyton Hewitt will be played in the afternoon. They are the 4th match of the day on Court Central, where play begins at 10AM. Ahead of them are Coria/Pavel, Athurs/Safin and Santoro/Nalbandian.
Hewitt and Schuettler are 1-1 in their two meetings, Rainer won in 2000 at Adelaide in Davis Cup competition 26 63 64 while Hewitt took their most recent match this year in the Rotterdam quarters 67(5) 36. Hewitt has won both Sydney and Rotterdam this season. Hewitt saved two match points in Monte Carlo against Gaudio before winning 16 76(5) 61. Schuettler has been recovering from the flu, and getting off the court quickly should help, the match lasted 65 minutes and he was pleased with both his serve and bacnhand. Hewitt comes into Thursday with who has played two three-setters.
- Sport.ard article on the win
- Sport1 piece from Wednesday's win
- Fox Sports (Australia) piece mainly on Hewitt's Wednesday win
- Reuters (UK) update of Wednesday's matches
- Channel News Asia report alson on Wednesday
- Sports Network similar take on the day's events
- USA Today tennis update
- Independent (UK) the British press is eager for a Hewitt-Henman faceoff
- Fox Sports (Australia) shows how Aussie fans are looking for the same match
- Telegraph (UK) piece on a 'funny' side to Henman
Tuesday 20 April
Order of Play is out for Wednesday and Schuettler takes on Lisnard on Court des Princes. Play begins at 10AM and their match is the 4th of the day.
- Sports Network article on Haas
- The Australian piece mainly on Hewitt but has some match results info
- Interview postmatch with Rainer, two whole questions
- Interview with Guga after the match, much longer
- Tennis-X story on Monte Carlo so far, as always a fun read, be sure to read the whole page
- Tennis-X bit on Haas' recovery
- NDTV (India) on the win
Monday 19 April
Today Rainer Schuettler defeated Gustavo Kuerten in their first round match by the score of 76(3) 63 (and on a Monday no less!). Eurosport has a play-by-play of the match in the margins of this link.
In the second round, Schuettler will take on Frenchman qualifier Jean-Rene Lisnard, who defeated Tomas Berdych 75 63, most likely on Wednesday.
Lifetime, the two are an even 2-2 against one another. Lisnard took their first two meetings (2003 Chennai Hard Q 62 75 and 2002 US Open Hard R128 36 67(2) 64 40), while Rainer has won the most recent pair (2003 St. Petersburg Hard R32 76(5) 61 and 2003 Roland Garros Clay R64 46 62 64 60). This season Lisnard has advanced to the quarterfinals in Chennai.
- Sport1 piece
- Sport.ard report
- Sportbild report
- Tennis-X.com preview of the Monte Carlo event
- Fox Sports (Australia) wire report on Roddick pulling out of the event
- Fox Sports recap of Monday's matches
- Reuters (UK) report on the results as well
- BBC Sports brief update on winners
- TSN (Canada) results page
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer recap of the day
- NZoom.com (New Zealand) piece on Kuerten
- Reuters (UK) recap of the day
- Courier-Mail (Australia) take on the day's results
TMS Monte Carlo
Sunday 18 April
Rainer Schuettler - the fourth seed - next heads to Monte Carlo for another TMS event, and though Agassi and Federer aren't playing here, the tennis matchups are good ones. Monday brings another first round match for Schuettler, who will face Gustavo Kuerten on Court Central. This year Kuerten has won Costa do Sauipe, was a finalist at Vina del Mar and a semifinalist in Auckland. They are the third match of the day and play begins at 10am, live scores link through the event's main page and I'll check the German sites for one. The top three seeds are Roddick, JCFerrero and Coria while rounding out the top ten are Moya, Henman, Nalbandian, Grosjean, Massu and Srichaphan.
Lifetime, Rainer is 1-3 against Guga with their last meeting coming in 2003's Costa do Sauipe where the German won in the semifinals 64 26 75. Kuerten won the first three matches, 2003 Indian Wells 62 36 62, 2000 in the Sydney Olympic Games 64 64 and in Hamburg in 1999, 64 63. The Schuettler-Kuerten winner will meet a qualifier in the second round, either Tomas Berdych or Jean-Rene Lisnard.
posted by Sprtswrtr @ 1:43 PM
