Schuettler Snaps Losing Streak, Beats Guga In Monte Carlo

By Tennis Week
04/19/2004

It had been a season of loss for Rainer Schuettler. Five first-round losses
and only two victories in the first three and a half months of the ATP
season left Schuettler feeling lost. Desperate for victory when he stepped
on the stadium court in Monte Carlo for today's opening-round match of the
Tennis Masters Series-Monte Carlo with Gustavo Kuerten, Schuettler found
precisely what he was looking for today.

Confidently counter-punching, Schuettler snapped his five-match losing
streak with today's 7-6(3), 6-3 win over Kuerten. It was Schuettler's first
victory since he defeated Radek Stepanek in Rotterdam two months ago and his
second win over Kuerten in five meetings.

Three-time Roland Garros champion Kuerten was hoping to find his confidence
on his favored clay-court surface, but could not find the answer to
Schuettler's play today. The German jumped out to a 5-2 lead before servings
for the first set a 5-4. After a long game that went to deuce three times,
Kuerten hit a forehand volley winner cross court to convert the break and
level the set, 5-5.

Approaching the net more than he has in recent weeks, Kuerten continued to
apply the pressure, but Schuettler was up to the test in the tiebreak.

The fourth-seeded German jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Two points later,
Schuettler cracked a forehand pass and followed with a forehand drop shot e
hit from the baseline to reach set point at 6-2. A Kuerten error gave
Schuettler the set.

Since beating Agustin Calleri to win the Costa Do Sauipe in his native
Brazil in February, Kuerten has not won a match. The Kuerten serve, which
was an effective weapon in his rise to the No. 1 ranking, is usually a
barometer of the Brazilian's confidence level. When he's serving well,
Kuerten is confident and usually playing well. But when his serve wavers,
Kuerten falters.

"It's a lot to do with confidence and motivation," Kuerten said. "It's tough
for me to get going in the early rounds. I play very well normally towards
the end."

In the second set, Kuerten seemed to lack a bit of belief in his serve,
dropping his first two service games and when Schuettler slammed an ace down
the middle, the 2003 Australian Open finalist had a 4-0 second-set lead.
Unwilling to yield, Kuerten came back to close to 3-4, but could not get any
closer. Schuettler sealed the match with an inside-out forehand winner.
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