Rainer Schuettler

Began playing tennis at age nine...Parents Karl and Klara; sister, Marita...His most memorable tennis moment came when he was nine years old watching countryman Boris Becker capture Wimbledon in 1985...Enjoys computers, soccer, basketball, watching movies and hanging out with friends...Big fan of Michael Jordan... Enjoys reading John Grisham novels and lists “There’s Something About Mary” as his favorite film...Considers return and backhand as strengths and hard courts as favorite surface...Is the only active German player to have reached a Grand Slam final (2003 Australian Open)...Has a 9-9 career Davis Cup record (9-6 in singles) in 11 ties since 1999...Voted ATP Most Improved Player of Year in 2003 and ATP Comeback Player of Year in 2008...Coached by Dirk Hordorff (since 1992).

1996 -- Advanced to QF at two Challengers

1997 -- Climbed more than 200 ranking positions by reaching ATP QF in Chennai and Washington...Won first Challenger title in Eckental (d. Luxa) and finished runner-up in two others

1998 -- Reached QF in ATP circuit stops in Split and Newport and won title at Potorov Challenger (d. Wessels)

1999 -- Finished in Top 50 for first time and won first ATP title in Doha as a qualifier, beating four players ranked No. 1 in their country (d. Henman in final)

2000 -- Opened as defending champion in Doha and reached final but his 12-match winning streak in Qatar (including qualifying) ended when he was forced to retire midway through final set vs. Santoro (due to cramps)...Turned in personal-best 3rd RD showings at Wimbledon and US Open...Played in Sydney Olympics and beat T. Martin in 1st RD (l. to Kuerten in 2nd RD)...Won title in Aachen Challenger (d. Settergren) and reached final in Bratislava (l. to Sanguinetti)

2001 -- Opened with a 4th RD showing at Australian Open...After US Open, began solid stretch in Asia with QF in Tashkent (l. to Kafelnikov) then followed with his second career ATP title in Shanghai (d. Kratochvil) and runner-up in Hong Kong (l. to Rios)...Reached his first career indoor final in St. Petersburg (l. to Safin)

2002 -- The No. 2 German (behind No. 11 Haas)...Had SF showings in Doha and Scottsdale and QF in Copenhagen, Memphis, Dubai and AMS Indian Wells...In May, advanced to his first clay final in Munich (l. to El Aynaoui...Reached QF at AMS Cincinnati (l. to Moya) and SF in Indianapolis (l. to Mantilla)...Played in two Davis Cup ties and went 3-1 in singles, lifting his country back into 2003 World Group...Compiled records of 29-18 on hard, 6-7 on clay, 3-2 on grass and 3-3 on carpet...Surpassed $2 million in career earnings

2003 -- Compiled his best pro season by finishing in Top 10 for first time, winning two ATP titles in four finals and 71 matches...Improved his year-end ATP Entry Ranking for ninth consecutive season, best among active players...Qualified for Tennis Masters Cup in Houston and became first German since Nicolas Kiefer in 1999 to advance to SF...Lost only three opening round matches while competing in most tournaments (29) and most singles matches (101)...Was 21-9 at AMS events and 14-4 at Grand Slams...Became first German since Becker in 1989 to advance to 4th RD (or better) at all four Grand Slams...Advanced to his first career Grand Slam final at Australian Open with wins over Krajicek (2nd), Blake (4th), Nalbandian (QF) and Roddick (SF) before losing to Agassi...First German to reach a Grand Slam final since Michael Stich was runner-up at Roland Garros in 1996...He followed his Down Under success by advancing to SF at AMS Indian Wells in March (d. Mirnyi, Roddick, l. to Kuerten)...Reached 4th RD at Roland Garros and Wimbledon...Reached back-to-back SF at AMS Montreal (d. Agassi, l. to Nalbandian) and AMS Cincinnati (l. to Fish)...Also reached 4th RD at US Open...Finalist at Costa do Sauipe (l. to Schalken)...Had a 17-5 post-US Open record, winning back-to-back titles in Tokyo (d. Grosjean) and Lyon (d. Clement)...Finished with SF at Tennis Masters Cup in Houston where he defeated No. 1 Roddick and Coria (l. to Moya) in round robin play before falling in three sets to Agassi...Had a career-best 19-6 record in tie-breaks and compiled 43-15 mark on hard courts and 17-12 on clay after entering year with a career mark of 22-40 on clay...Also went 7-1 on carpet and 4-2 on grass...Earned a career-high $1,875,002

2004 -- An up-and-down season for German who finished in Top 50 for sixth straight year...Reached first career ATP Masters Series final in Monte Carlo...Posted impressive wins over Kuerten in 1st RD, Hewitt in 3rd RD, No. 7 Henman in QF and No. 8 Moya in SF before losing to No. 4 Coria in straight sets...Followed with QF in Munich, losing to eventual champion Davydenko...Went 2-1 in ATP World Team Cup in Dusseldorf...On grass, reached SF in Halle (l. to Fish) and 3rd RD at Wimbledon, posting back-to-back five-set wins over Soderling and Rusedski (l. to Rusedski)...Returned to clay in July and reached SF in Gstaad (l. to Andreev) and Kitzbnhel (l. to Massu)...His best results rest of season were QF in Vienna and Basel in October...Compiled 15-10 record on clay, 7-14 on hard, 5-3 on grass and 2-3 on carpet...Also went 2-2 vs. Top 10 opponents

2005 -- Failed to reach a singles final for first time since 1998... Reached QF in Milan (l. to Stepanek)... Helped Germany defeat South Africa in Davis Cup Euro/Africa Group I QF, going 1-1 in singles and doubles play... Reached QF in Halle (l. to Canas)... Following week, reached SF at Braunschweig Challenger on clay before 1st RD loss at Wimbledon to Mirnyi... In July, advanced to 3rd RD on clay in Stuttgart... Following week, slipped out of Top 100 for first time since Jan. 4, 1999 at No. 112... After 2nd RD loss to countryman Haas at US Open, reached QF in Ho Chi Minh in September... Finished season with QF in Stockholm (l. to Sanguinetti) and QF at Seoul Challenger... In doubles, won second career ATP title in Chennai (w/Lu) and reached final in Gstaad (w/Kohlmann), compiling 18-20 record overall...

2006 -- Finished in Top 100 of ATP Rankings for eighth consecutive year...Best ATP result of season came in March when he advanced to SF in Dubai with wins over Ferrer, Klec and Phau (l. to Nadal)...During summer, reached SF at Cordoba Challenger (l. to Kim) and final at Graz Challenger (l. to Mayer)...For first time in his career, he did not win a Grand Slam match in a season...Snapped nine-match ATP losing streak with win over Lee in Bangkok...Reached 3rd RD in Tokyo with wins over Berrer and Goldstein (l. to Ancic)...In November, captured title at Aachen Challenger (d. Korolev) to finish in Top 100...Enters 2007 season having played in 32 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments (since 1999)...In doubles, reached final in Halle (w/Kohlmann)...

2007 -- Finished outside Top 100 for the first time since 1998…Opened season falling in Chennai 1st RD (l. to Nadal)…Won first ATP match at Delray Beach in RR action (d. Malisse) in February…Best ATP result of season came in September when he advanced to SF in Mumbai with wins over Benneteau, Troicki and Hewitt (l. to O. Rochus)… It was his first SF on ATP circuit since Dubai in March 2006…Following week reached Tokyo 3rd RD (l. to Gasquet)…In doubles, advanced to final in San Jose (w/Haggard) losing to Butorac-Murray…Best performance at a Grand Slam, was QF performance (w/Kohlmann). 

2008 -- The German No. 2 (behind Kohlschreiber) improved 100 ranking positions to finish in Top 30...After a 4-13 start, made breakthrough with SF at Wimbledon (d. No. 8 Blake, l. to Nadal)...Finished with a 17-10 mark, highlighted by QF or better in four of last six tournaments...Advanced to SF in Beijing (l. to Sela) and QF in Tokyo (l. to Gasquet), Stockholm (l. to Soderling) and St. Petersburg (l. to Verdasco)...Compiled marks of 12-14 on hard, 6-3 on grass and 3-6 on clay...Struggled in tie-breaks with 5-15 mark...In doubles, won titles in Houston (w/Gulbis) and Munich (w/Berrer).

2009

The German finished in Top 100 for 10th time in 11 years highlighted by singles and doubles SF in Chennai where he withdrew due to a left wrist injury (w/Phau)…Posted his best win over No. 7 Gilles in Germany’s campaign to reach ARAG ATP World Team Championship final (l. to Serbia)…In June reached second SF at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Becker)…In October qualified and reached 3rd RD at Shanghai* (l. to Djokovic)…Compiled marks of 9-16 on hard, 5-3 on grass and 2-10 on clay.