The Hindu : Sport : Schuettler meets Nadal in first round

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Sunday, Dec 31, 2006
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Schuettler meets Nadal in first round

Nandita Sridhar

WHAT'S IN STORE? Xavier Malisse, Vijay Amritraj and Rainer Schuettler during the Chennai Open draw on Saturday. — Photo: R. Ragu

Chennai: With all those faithful years behind him in the Chennai Open, playing year after year, doing his job in all quiet and no-nonsense charm, and choosing to return again, Rainer Schuettler would have expected a little more out of tennis providence, than a first round encounter with top-seed Rafael Nadal.

Cuss words, a no-no in the presence of a roomful of media men, gave way to a wryest smile and a few words of self comfort like, "it's much more motivating to play someone ranked one, two or three, than someone ranked 100." He knows how it feels to be both, having been as high as fifth in the rankings in 2004, and as low as 97, now.

Tough on Schuettler

The draws that were made on Saturday with Xavier Malisse and Schuettler present, were unkind, to say the least, to the German. "He (Nadal) is the favourite, and I have nothing to lose. He's extremely fit, and I'm just going to try my best," he said, borrowing a globally recognised underdog phrase.

Fellow Chennai Open regular Carlos Moya, in the bottom half of the draw has a relatively easier first round against Alexander Waske, provided his customary script in Chennai still holds good.

A seemingly tough opponent in any other part of the globe seems a little stripped off his weapons (in Waske's case, a huge serve is one of them) when confronted with the Spaniard in Chennai.

The past might sometimes have little to do with the future in sport, but Moya's case has enough in it to surprise outsiders, on how freakish geographical advantage can get.

Argentine David Nalbandian, having to deal with life's extremities like reaching the Davis Cup final, reaching the Shanghai Masters semifinal and losing his godson, will have lesser worries, when he meets Kristian Pless in the first round.

Wildcard Prakash Amritraj nearly got himself a first round meeting with Nalbandian, but will face Ivo Karlovic, the big man with a bigger serve.

"It's a David versus Goliath situation, physically speaking, and I hope David wins," said Vijay Amritraj who was present during the ceremony. An ITF title win might psychologically reduce the gap between Karan Rastogi and his first-round opponent Thiago Alves (The Brazilian is more than 300 places higher), but the Indian will need a better-than-ITF brand of tennis to make an impression in Chennai.

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