Rainer Schüttler sensationally reached the final at the Australian Open in 2003. tennisnet. com looks back.
By Christian Albrecht Barschel
As of 13. When the Australian Open began in Melbourne on 1 January 2003, the situation in German tennis was not exactly rosy. Tommy Haas was the eleventh in the world rankings, but Haas not only missed the Australian Open, but also the whole of 2003 due to shoulder problems. The second German figurehead Nicolas Kiefer was also unable to compete in Melbourne because of an injury and dropped back to 74th place. Barbara Rittner entered the Australian Open as Germany’s number one and number 65 in the women’s event. And so German hopes rested mainly on Rainer Schüttler, who started as number 36 in the world rankings.
But only the boldest optimists believed that walkers could achieve a strong performance at the Australian Open. The Korbacher had only just reached his second week in a Grand Slam – two years earlier he had reached the round of sixteen in Melbourne. From a German point of view, the Australian Open kicked off with a bang. Marlene Weingärtner beat double defending champion Jennifer Capriati in the first round and caused one of the biggest sensations in the history of the tournament. Weingärtner’s high-flying flight, however, was abruptly stopped in the third round. From a German point of view, the focus was now on Schüttler, who won his first two rounds smoothly in three sets.
The German’s opening victory against the Spaniard Albert Portas did not yet make headlines. But with his second round victory against former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, Schüttler attracted attention. In all three sets he was trailing 1:3 and finally defused the tree-long Dutchman in three sets. Schüttler had thus reached the minimum goal of the third round, but the 26-year-old had much more to do:”The tournament is far from over. If I keep my form against Marat, I can make it to the round of sixteen,”he looked ahead to the next match against Marat Safin, the third in the world rankings.
But there was no match with the last year’s finalist in Melbourne. Safin withdrew shortly before the start of the game because of a torn wrist, which he had tightened in the first round,”Lucky for me, bad luck for Safin. This has never happened to me before in such an important tournament. The other way would have been more satisfying, but I’m not sad,”said Schüttler, who saved important forces with it. That should pay off in the next few rounds. This was the second time in his career that Schüttler had reached the second week of a Grand Slam – again in Melbourne.
In the round of sixteen, a shooting star of the scene waited for the Korbacher with James Blake. The hotter it got in Melbourne, the better shaker became. At a temperature of more than 30 degrees Celsius, the quick-witted German played off his running qualities and also convinced with a powerful baseline game. The Australian media called Schüttler “red lightning”because he was so quick on his feet and he wore a red shirt at every game. And the “red lightning” also struck in the last sixteen. Schüttler defeated Blake in four sets (6:3,6:4,1:6,6:3) and was in the quarter-finals “This was a milestone, a big relief. I also had my chances at the last important Grand Slam matches and then lost,”said the German.
Shaker was David Nalbandian in the quarter-finals. The Argentinean had previously kicked Roger Federer out of the tournament in a five-match match. The “red lightning” continued where it left off. Schüttler dictated the match against Nalbandian, won the first set and also led the second set with 4:2. Then the Argentinean turned up and secured the equalization of the sentences. Shaker wasn’t shocked by it at all. Instead of mourning a possible 2-0 lead, Schüttler added several shovels and dismantled Nalbandian in sets three and four. 6:3,5:7,6:1,6:0 – semi-final at the Australian Open. The “red lightning” struck Melbourne again!
“For me, a dream has come true, it’s unbelievable. I have no more pressure and will try to carry on. If I can beat Nalbandian, then I can beat anyone else,”said Schüttler, looking ahead to the semi-finals against Andy Roddick. The American had won the quarter-finals in a record 21:19 match against Younes El Aynaoui in the fifth set. The German went into the semi-finals much more relaxed than Roddick. And that benefited Schüttler during the course of the season. Roddick, the strains of the previous five-hour marathon were clearly noticeable.
Schüttler won the semi-finals with 7:5,2:6,6:3,6:3 and after the match ball turned into a hard place,”Wow, this is one of the best moments of my life. I turned the world upside down in two weeks. I never thought of that before the tournament, I was happy to be in the third round,”said Schüttler after his historic final draw. A German in the Grand Slam finale: This hadn’t happened since Michael Stich entered the final of the French Open in 1996,”The Night Session match against Roddick was the big deal anyway. As I hit the backline long line pass-ball at the match ball, I still have this feeling. There’s nothing better than hitting a ball and knowing exactly where the ball is going. That was one of those shots,”Schüttler recalled in an interview with spox. com after his career’s end to the match point against Roddick.
The Korbacher thus walked in the footsteps of Boris Becker, who had entered himself on the winner’s list of the Australian Open in 1991 and 1996. In the final game, Schüttler and triple Australian Open winner Andre Agassi were waiting for an almost unsolvable task. The US-American was once again in great shape and shot his opponents in the course of the tournament,”Andre is in incredible form. I have nothing to lose, I have no pressure,”Schüttler explained before the final. After his previous appearances, however, the German could be trusted to finish his Melbourne fairy tale with the Grand Slam title. However, the big final sensation failed to materialize.
Schüttler was lost to the US-American from the beginning. Agassi showed the Korbacher and was better in the final of several classes. After only 76 minutes the title dream of Schüttler was over. 2:6,2:6,1:6,1:6, there hadn’t been such a clear result in a Grand Slam final for a long time “He was just too good for me. I certainly didn’t see the final the other way around. But I didn’t lose to anyone. Looking back in a few weeks’ time, I will certainly not be disappointed,”Schüttler was proud of his achievements at the Australian Open.
The two weeks in Melbourne gave Schüttler a boost for the rest of 2003. The Korbacher played his way into the top ten and was allowed to take part in the season finale of the eight best players at the end of the year. In the next few years of his career, however, things didn’t go well for walkers in Melbourne. He retired five times in the first round, three times in the second round. In 2012 Schüttler competed for the Australian Open one last time and wanted to qualify for the main draw. The end came in the second qualifying round. The match was not only Schüttler’s last match in Melbourne, but also the last match of his career. In October 2012, the German announced his career end. The Australian Open are especially memorable for walkers.