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Tragedies made Schalken stronger

By K. Keerthivasan

Photo: K.V. Srinivasan.

CHENNAI JAN. 3. He sports a serious look, smiles rarely and measures his words while making a statement. Perhaps, tragedies make one a tough man. Twenty-seven-year-old Sjeng Schalken — the No.1 Dutchman and ranked 18 in the world — has seen his younger brother Tuur, all of 15 years, die of cancer in 1999, and then his elder brother Pier suffer from Down's Syndrome.

Married to Ricky for the last two-and a-half years, Schalken is at peace with the world around him. After having a hectic practice session at the Nungambakkam Stadium for the upcoming Tata Open tennis championship, he relaxes in this chat with The Hindu on Saturday.

"It's a big honour to have played against Pete (Sampras) in the 2002 US Open in his last tournament. He was serving well. Though I was better from the baseline, he won a lot of free points with his serve. At the end of the day, he was just better. All in all, I felt happy to have played against a living legend."

Incidentally, the 2002 US Open semifinal appearance has been Schalken's best performance in the Grand Slams.

The next year too was somewhat fruitful for the Dutch. Playing consistently well mostly from the backcourt, Schalken reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon and the US Open. In both the Grand Slams, he lost to the eventual champions — Roger Federer and Andy Roddick respectively.

"But I still feel that the second half of 2002 was my best. I reached the third round of the French Open, entered the semifinals of the Stella Artois championship, made the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon (losing to Lleyton Hewitt in five sets), won at 'S Hertogenbosch, made it to the semifinals of the US Open, and then lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu in the final at Moscow. This proved that I can play in all conditions and on all surfaces and that I am an all-round player.''

Vividly recalling the Davis Cup play-off match where Holland blanked India 5-0 at Zwolle last year, Schalken has some nice words for the Indians. "Prakash Amritraj is a hard-worker, it is very good to have a player like him. He has a good teacher in his father. Harsh Mankad plays an aggressive game. He has good hands, but is not steady enough. Rohan Bopanna too is good with a powerful serve.''

Not a stranger to Chennai, Schalken made his entry in 1999 (Gold Flake Open then) and lost early, then in 2003, he opted out due to a wrist injury.

"It was disappointing. I pulled out of two successive tournaments,'' he says. "But I feel at home in Chennai. I hope to have a good start here. With a little bit of luck.'' Schalken has some unfinished ambitions — to enter the top 10 and to win his 10th ATP title. He has changed his service action, and is ready for the battles ahead.

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