Rainer Schüttler (; born 25 April 1976) is a German former professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...
player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the
2003 Australian Open
The 2003 Australian Open was a tennis tournament held in 2003. It was the first Grand Slam event of the 2003 ATP Tour and the 2003 WTA Tour. It was the 91st edition of the event and attracted 512,225 spectators.
Thomas Johansson could not defend ...
and a semifinalist at the
2008 Wimbledon Championships. He won an Olympic silver medal in doubles at the
2004 Athens Olympics, and achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 5 in April 2004.
Early life
He began playing tennis at the age of nine. He resides in Switzerland.
Career
2003-2009
In 2003, Schüttler became the first German since
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker (, ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. Becker was successful from the start of his career, winning the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 17. He ultimately won six Grand Slam singles tit ...
in 1989 to advance to the fourth round at all
Grand Slams. He became the first German to reach a Grand Slam final, at the Australian Open, since
Michael Stich
Michael Detlef Stich (, ; born 18 October 1968) is a German former professional tennis player. He won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1991, the men's doubles titles at both Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in 1992, and was a singles r ...
was the runner-up at
Roland Garros in 1996. En route to the final, which he lost in straight sets to
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors.
Agassi is the second of five men to ac ...
, he defeated
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals ( Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...
who would end the season as world No 1.
In 2004, Schüttler reached his first career
ATP Masters Series
The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
final in Monte Carlo by beating
Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the French Open singles title three times (1997, 2000, and 2001), and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000. During his career he wo ...
in the first round,
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 20 ...
in the third round,
Tim Henman
Timothy Henry Henman (born 6 September 1974) is a British former professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis. He was the first British man to reach the singles semifinals of Wimbledon since Roger Taylor in th ...
in the quarterfinal and
Carlos Moyá
Carlos Moyá Llompart (; born 27 August 1976) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He was the French Open singles champion in 1998 and was the singles runner-up at the 1997 Australian Open. In 2004, he was part of his country's succ ...
in the semifinal. In the final, he lost to
Guillermo Coria. That week, he would reach a career-high ranking of No. 5. Schüttler won a silver medal for Germany in men's doubles with partner
Nicolas Kiefer
Nicolas Kiefer (; born 5 July 1977) is a German former professional tennis player. He reached the semifinals of the 2006 Australian Open and won a silver medal in men's doubles with partner Rainer Schüttler at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Kie ...
at the
2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. 2004 was the sixth straight year in which he finished in the ATP top 50.
Schüttler reached his first career semifinal at
Wimbledon by beating
Santiago Ventura,
James Blake,
Guillermo García-López,
Janko Tipsarević
Janko Tipsarević ( sr-cyr, Јанко Типсаревић, ; born 22 June 1984) is a Serbian former tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 8, achieved on 2 April 2012. In his career, he won 4 ATP World Tour titles, one AT ...
, and
Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément (; born 17 December 1977) is a French former professional tennis player and Davis Cup captain. Clément reached the final of the 2001 Australian Open and achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 10 in April of that year. Part ...
6–3, 5–7, 7–6, 6–7, 8–6. His match with Clément was over five hours, completed in two days to reach the semifinals, in which Schuettler saved a match point at 6–5 down in the fifth set. He was defeated by eventual champion
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...
1–6, 6–7, 4–6. His achievement was a big surprise, since he entered the tournament ranked 94th and with a streak of 13 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments without making it past the second round.
His 2009 season Schüttler started off at the
Chennai Open, beating
Prakash Amritraj 6–2, 4–6, 6–1. In the second round, he beat
Simon Greul 6–4, 6–2, and in the quarterfinals
Björn Phau, 6–2, 7–5. Unfortunately Schuettler had to withdraw from his semifinal match against
Somdev Devvarman
Somdev Kishore Devvarman (born 13 February 1985) is a former professional Indian tennis player. He hit the headlines for being the only collegiate player to have made three consecutive finals at the NCAA, winning back-to-back finals ...
because of a wrist injury. He also withdrew from the
tournament in Sydney. At the Australian Open, he was seeded 30th but lost in the first round to Israeli
Dudi Sela
David "Dudi" Sela ( he, דודי סלע; born 4 April 1985) is an Israeli professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 29 in July 2009.
Sela won the French Open 2003 junior doubles title. Representing Isra ...
1–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–4. He also participated in the doubles with
Lu Yen-hsun
Lu Yen-hsun (; born 14 August 1983) is a Taiwanese retired professional tennis player, who goes by the nickname Rendy Lu.
He won the most titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in tennis history. His favorite surface is hardcourt, though several of ...
, but they were defeated by
Łukasz Kubot
Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a Polish professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the 2017 ...
and
Oliver Marach
Oliver Marach (born 16 July 1980) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles.
He achieved his highest singles ranking of world No. 82 in August 2005, but achieved most of his success in doubles where he reache ...
. In the first round in Rotterdam, he lost to
Mario Ančić
Mario Ančić (; born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who currently works as a private equity vice president in New York City. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking c ...
. He played the
Open 13 in Marseille, defeating
Laurent Recouderc
Laurent Recouderc is a professional tennis player from France. He was born 10 July 1984 in Toulouse.
Career
On the junior circuit, Recouderc had defeated Tomáš Berdych, Robin Söderling, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He has spent his professional c ...
in the first round 6–1, 6–4.
He competed at the
ARAG World Team Cup
The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...
in Germany, helping his country reach the final, where they lost to Serbia.
In the second round at Wimbledon, though seeded 18th, he was upset by Dudi Sela, 7–6, 6–3, 6–
2010-2011
He reached the second round of the
2010 Australian Open, Australian Open defeating
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...
in four sets. However he lost to
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016.In 2005, López was t ...
in four sets, too. At the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...
, he again suffered a first-round exit, this time against
Guillermo García-López in straight sets. He reached the semifinal of the
Aegon Championships
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) T ...
at the
Queens Club in London but lost to
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...
in three sets 7–6, 5–7, 3–6. Despite his good form he was defeated by
Denis Istomin
Denis Olegovich Istomin (born 7 September 1986) is an Uzbek professional tennis player. He has won two singles titles (at the 2015 Aegon Open Nottingham and 2017 Chengdu Open) and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in Augu ...
in the second round of
Wimbledon in five sets. At the quarterfinal of the
Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, Schüttler could not manage to close out the match against Querrey despite serving for it at 5–4 and 6–5 in the deciding set.
He was knocked out in the first round of the
US Open losing to
Benoît Paire
Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player.
His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
.
At the
Thailand Open in Bangkok, Schüttler beat
Ricardo Mello in round one for a second round berth against
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988, nicknamed "Lord", "The Gull" or "Ernie") is a Latvian professional tennis player. In 2008, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour doubles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, teaming with Rainer Schüt ...
. He lost 6–7, 7–6, 4–6 in a close match.
In 2010, Schüttler and his former Davis Cup companion
Alexander Waske
Alexander Waske (born 31 March 1975) is a retired tennis player from Germany.
Waske was ranked as high as world No. 16 in doubles, winning four titles. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 89 in June 2006. In 2010, Waske a ...
founded the
Schüttler Waske Tennis-University, a tennis academy for professional tennis players.
Schüttler started the tour at the
Qatar Open where he confronted
Teymuraz Gabashvili in the singles, but lost 3–5, 6–7. He also played doubles with
Guillermo García-López confronting
Marco Chiudinelli
Marco Chiudinelli (born 10 September 1981) is a retired tennis player from Switzerland. A member of Switzerland's winning 2014 Davis Cup squad, he reached his highest singles ranking of 52 in February 2010 during a career that was often hindered ...
and
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
, to whom they lost 1–6, 2–6. At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
, he played ninth seed
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player.
His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009.
His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...
in the first round, but lost 1–6, 3–6, 2–6. He then played several Challenger series tournaments. At
Wimbledon, he defeated
Thomaz Bellucci
Thomaz Cocchiarali Bellucci (born 30 December 1987, in Tietê) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21 in July 2010.
Bellucci used a string of ATP Challenger Tour victories early in ...
in the first round, but lost to
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016.In 2005, López was t ...
in the second 6–7, 7–6, 2–6, 2–6.
Schüttler officially retired in October 2012.
Significant finals
Olympic final
Doubles: 1 silver medal
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 1 runner-up
Masters Series finals
Singles: 1 runner-up
ATP career finals
Singles: 12 (4 titles, 8 runner-ups)
Doubles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 14 (6–8)
Doubles: 2 (2–0)
Performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
Top 10 wins
Coaching career
After retirement, he began his coaching career and has coached
Janko Tipsarevic,
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Eduardovych Stakhovsky ( uk, Сергій Едуардович Стаховський, ; born January 6, 1986) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and played mostly at the Challenger le ...
and
Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil ( ; cs, Vašek Pospíšil, ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high world singles ranking of No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 ...
. Since November 2018, he coached former
world No. 1,
Angelique Kerber
Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wim ...
. In July 2019, Kerber announced they had split on social media.
Personal life
In 2014 Rainer met Serbian Jovana Sesevic, whose sister Biljana is married to another former top 10 player,
Janko Tipsarevic.
Twitter message
/ref> They married in 2015 and have two sons (Noah and Leon) and now mostly reside in Switzerland.
References
External links
Official website
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Schüttler world ranking history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schuttler, Rainer
1976 births
Living people
People from Korbach
Sportspeople from Kassel (region)
German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
German male tennis players
German tennis coaches
Olympic silver medalists for Germany
Olympic tennis players of Germany
Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in tennis
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
People from Altstätten
Tennis people from Hesse