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No. 31 Schuettler advances to semifinals Posted: Wednesday January 22, 2003 1:28 AMUpdated: Wednesday January 22, 2003 5:53 AM MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Rainer Schuettler out-hustled Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian at the Australian Open on Wednesday, winning 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-0 to reach his first grand slam semifinal. The super-fit Schuettler, who led the German challenge in Melbourne in the absence of Tommy Haas and Nicolas Kiefer, frustrated the 10th-seeded Nalbandian as he repeatedly ran down balls to hit winners in a workmanlike display. Muttering to himself constantly, Schuettler briefly lost his way after a strong start, however, gifting the Argentine the second set with his fifth double-fault. Schuettler, who had received a walkover in the third round when Marat Safin withdrew with a wrist injury, stormed through the third and fourth sets as Nalbandian's game fell apart. Schuettler, only the fifth German man to reach the semifinals since the Open Era began in 1968, will play either American number nine seed Andy Roddick or Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui, the 18th seed next. "Maybe I am lucky to be in the semis. Maybe I was lucky in the third round, but there is no pressure for me," said a delighted Schuettler, who also beat former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek in the second round. "I'm just happy to be here and I will just keep going." The 31st seed's best performance at a grand slam to date had been to reach the last 16 here in 2001. Haas reached the semifinals here last year, losing to eventual runner-up Safin. Taekwondo aids Schuettler success at OpenMELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Rainer Schuettler has discovered a new weapon to help him fight the baseline bullies at the Australian Open -- taekwondo. Following his convincing victory over David Nalbandian, the German said the secret behind his run to the semifinals was a punishing pre-season training regime that incorporated the Korean martial art. "I have a taekwondo teacher, so I really practice that a lot. That's why I'm always fit at the beginning of the year," said Schuettler, who turned to tennis after watching Boris Becker win three Wimbledon titles in the 1980s. "I run and run and run. But I don't think you win matches just because you have quick feet. To reach a grand slam semifinal is a dream for me, but I think I deserve to be here." Schuettler said that his success Down Under showed the strength in depth of tennis in Germany. "Of course, everybody in Germany saw Becker win Wimbledon and that (started) a big boom. The expectations are very high. Becker won grand slam tournaments, Michael Stich won Wimbledon... Steffi Graf," he said. "Everybody is saying that there's a gap in German tennis, I don't think so. Nicolas was there, now he's injured. Tommy was number two in the world for a long time last year. "I think it's normal that the expectations of the people in Germany are very high."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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