The Hindu : Sport : Schuettler sends Hewitt packing

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Saturday, Sep 29, 2007
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Schuettler sends Hewitt packing

Nandakumar Marar

Santoro stuns Nieminen, meets Richard Gasquet in the semifinals

— Photo: Vivek Bendre

GIANT-KILLER: Germany’s Rainer Schuettler celebrates after defeating Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in the Kingfisher Airlines Open on Friday.

MUMBAI: Fabrice Santoro, banking on touchplay tuition from his father and wielding a Head racquet like an extension of his arm, jolted higher ranked Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-4 in the men’s singles quarterfinals at the Kingfisher Airlines Open tennis tournament. Nieminen (ATP rank 35) met his nemesis at the hands of a 35-year-old (ATP rank 43) whose progress so far is proof of artistry which refuses to get blunted with age.

Later, Rainer Schuettler announced his presence on the semifinal stage with a forceful showing against second seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, enjoying himself on court as things fell into place for the unseeded German, ranked 143, winning 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals under lights.

“I had beaten him a few times before, then have not played him for a long time due to knee surgery, made a few mistakes. Ranked as high as number five, the fall in rankings was difficult, so I realised the need to change something, realised the key was to remain healthy. There is a long way to go, but I am happy the way my career is going,” said the winner.

Humidity

Santoro struggled to cope up with Mumbai humidity, laboured along the baseline against a younger, faster and fitter rival, but at no point did he appear to mix up the lines on Centre Court. The fifth seed suffered a jolt in the third game, but broke back on the next, clinching gamepoint with a glorious backhand down the line winner.

Nieminen created room to manoeuvre with double-handed backhands hit with astonishing power and timing, only to be let out anguished cries as the points piled up against him.

Two breaks were enough for the French player to nose ahead, his rival responded with net-rushes, trying to stem the flow coming across the net, but energy was no substitute for expertise.

Even in the second set, Nieminen took a pro-active role when faced with a breakpoint in the first service game, choosing serve-and-volley and escaped when a Santoro lob floated long.

The heat took a toll on both, the 35-year-old struggling with timing against an opponent nine years younger. “Jarkko recovered between points, I had a tough time on maybe the most humid day of the week,” said the fifth seed.

Nieminen blasted forehand crosscourt winners and even dared a tricky lob on the backhand, leaping at the point of contact and take the force off the ball with deft hands, but these were just flashes of inspired play against the maestro, who now has a 3-0 head-to-head record against the Finn, one-time World number 13 (July 2006).

“Jarkko is a far better player, despite the result,” said a modest Santoro.

Top seed Richard Gasquet set up a semifinal showdown with Santoro, defeating Stefan Koubek (Austria) 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

The results: Singles (quarterfinals): Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt Stefan Koubek (Aut) 6-2, 6-4; Fabrice Santoro (Fra) bt Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) 6-3, 6-4; Rainer Schuettler (Ger) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-3, 7-5.

Second round: Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt Fabio Fognini (Ita) 6-0, 6-1; Stefan Koubek (Aut) bt Bjorn Phau (Ger) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5; Oliver Rochus (Bel) bt Ivan Navarro 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Rainer Schuettler (Ger) bt Viktor Troicki (Srb) 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(1).

Doubles (second round): Boris Pashanski / Viktor Troicki (Srb) bt Patrick Briaud (US) / Wesley Moodie (SA) 6-4, 7-6(3).

First round: B. Pashanski / V. Troicki (Srb) bt Purav Raja / Vivek Shokeen (Ind) 6-3, 6-2; P. Briad (US) / W. Moodie (SA) bt Lu Yen Hsun (Tpe) / Jiri Vanek (Cze) 7-6(2), 6-4; Robert Lindstedt (Swe) / J. Nieminen (Fin) w/o Nicholas Kiefer / Rainer Schuettler (Ger); James Auckland / Ross Hutchings (Gbr) bt Mustafa Ghouse / Karan Rastogi (Ind) 6-2, 3-6, 10-3; Lars Burgsmuller (Ger) / Oliver Rochus (Bel) bt Adam Davidson (US) / Rohan Gajjar (Ind) 6-1, 6-3; Yves Allegro (Sui) / Kristof Vliegen (Bel) bt Nicolas Devilder / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (Fra) 7-5, 6-3.

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