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Dream ends for tired Schuettler Posted: Sunday January 26, 2003 2:18 AMMELBOURNE, Jan 26 (Reuters) -- Battered and weary, Rainer Schuettler paid tribute to Andre Agassi after being demolished 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 by the American in the most one-sided Australian Open final in nearly 80 years on Sunday. The German earned the dubious distinction of equaling Jim Willard's record of winning the fewest number of games in the final. Willard was flattened by fellow Australian John Hawkes in 1926. "From the first point, I was under pressure. That's what I didn't want to happen," shrugged the 31st seed, who had never advanced beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam before. "I tried to do something special. He was too good today. I never had a chance to play my game." Schuettler was in trouble against Agassi from the start, losing the first eight points of the match. When he went up 15-0 in the third game, Schuettler held his arms aloft and took a bow as the crowd at Rod Laver Arena erupted. "There was no real tension for me. He simply played better. He was controlling the match from the first point," he said. "For sure, it was the worst way to start a final like this against Andre." But while the 32-year-old Agassi was applauded for becoming the first overseas male player to win four titles in Melbourne, Schuettler insisted his best was yet to come. "It was a dream ... to play a final in a Grand Slam. Maybe next year I will go one step further," he said. The 26-year-old, said the success he enjoyed over the past two weeks had given his confidence a huge boost. "I think I played a great tournament. I played a great two weeks. I'm just really tired now," said Schuettler, who knocked out a string of big-name players during the tournament. Along the way, he almost single-handedly accounted for the so-called "Generation Next" of American tennis. He beat James Blake in the fourth round and ninth seed Andy Roddick in the semifinals. But he never looked like countryman Boris Becker, champion here in 1991 and 1996, in a final that lasted just 76 minutes. Asked if he felt Agassi had tried to make a "statement" in the first game of the match, when he broke the German to love, Schuettler joked: "For me, he made a lot of statements actually. He played the same way from the first point to the last point. "He doesn't make any mistakes and he gives you no free points. I mean, he's definitely one of the best players ever." Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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