Wimbledon: Rainer Schüttler - Rafa, Angie and the memories of 2008
In 2008 Rainer Schüttler reached the semi-finals in Wimbledon and is currently part of Angelique Kerber's team in London. A spontaneous meeting in front of the clubhouse.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jun 26, 2022, 06:54 pm
By Jens Huiber from London
Anyone who meets Rainer Schüttler at the All England Lawn Tennis Club is extremely reluctant to stop the former top five player. After all, journalists don't like it when journalists meet with activists outside of official press conferences. Because one thing is clear: Schüttler, now 46 years old, still looks so fit that he could move up into the main draw as a lucky loser. With a good chance of reaching the second week at Wimbledon.
In 2008, Schüttler reached the semifinals here after an epic five-set win over Arnaud Clement. "At the time I invited my parents to experience it in the box at Center Court," remembers Schüttler. In the semifinals, Rafael Nadal was the eventual winner. "The first set was over after ten or 15 minutes with 1:6. I was late for every ball and had never played on Center Court before. And the place is different there.”
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Something would have been possible in the second set, but Schüttler couldn't serve at 5:4. "Ultimately Nadal was too good and then he won the tournament. And that's okay.” Wimbledon and lawn tennis in general have always been something special for Rainer Schüttler. "That suits my game. And when I grew up, Boris Becker won at Wimbledon.”
14 years later, Rafael Nadal is still there, and Rainer Schüttler has a lot of credit for him. "I do think Rafa Novak Djokovic can beat here. Of course Djokovic is an exceptional player, but everyone can have a bad day. I don't know how Alcaraz plays on grass, but there's always a chance of a surprise.” Even if it's through a service artist like John Isner.
Rainer Schüttler - "It's a good thing that coaching is allowed"
On Saturday, Schüttler accompanied Angelique Kerber, whose prospects he rates as not bad at all. "There are always chances, you saw that last year when she was in the semi-finals. But that's so far away. Of course, the women's field is very wide open. Angie is well prepared, won on clay in Strasbourg and has now played in the quarter-finals in Bad Homburg. She can go far here.”
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Nastasja Schunk also has Schüttler on his list as head of the German women's national team. "I took her to the Billie Jean King Cup as the fifth player because I think she has incredible talent. She will go her own way. You can see how quickly she took this hurdle from 350 in the world to 150 now. Here she qualified right away.” The same applies to Jule Niemeier, who will take a big step in the next one or two years.
As team boss, Schüttler has already coached the young players, and in the second half of the season this will also be generally allowed on the ATP tour. "I think it's right that something is changing. There was already an attempt to do something with headphones and a microphone, I'm not a fan of that. I'd still like to have a bit of privacy between me and my player. But I think it's good that coaching is allowed. You travel around the world together, you have the coach with you, so you should be allowed to communicate. It's good for the players, the fans, even the TV commentators."
Spoke it and walked away with light steps. Because who knows: maybe there will still be a vacancy in the 128 tableau.
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