| Tuesday, 1 July 2008 Written by Drew Lilley It seems like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been dominating world tennis for years now, and with 16 Grand Slam titles between them, it is almost impossible to believe that they are only 26 and 22 respectively. Injuries seem to be multiplying – Wimbledon is a case in point with withdrawals already into double figures – in the quest for power as players bulk up, string tensions are multiplied ten-fold and attritional base-line tennis becomes the norm. And if a multiple champion like Justine Henin can retire at the tender age of 25, what hope is there for the rest of the circuit? Fortunately, there will always be a place for the craftier players – the ones who have built up tennis smarts and nous after spending more than a decade on the tour. And occasionally there will even be two places, as is the case with the men’s quarter-finals where Arnaud Clement will face Rainer Schuettler – combined age 62. The two players have incredibly similar careers to date – they enjoyed early success and came within touching distance of a Grand Slam before reinventing themselves as solid doubles players while still hoping for one last hurrah on the bigger stage of the singles tour. Seven years ago, Clement was the great hope of French tennis when he reached the final of the Australian Open in 2001, beating Yevgeny Kafelnikov before falling to Andre Agassi at the final hurdle (having beaten the American at the previous Grand Slam – the 2000 US Open – on his way to the quarters). His career began to slide soon afterwards as he was hit by injuries, including a freak footballing accident which kept him out of his home Grand Slam in 2006. Being French has also hampered his career, with other players regularly preferred to him for Davis Cup duty, and he also had the misfortune of coming up against eventual semi-finalist Gael Monfils in the first round at this year’s Roland Garros. Clement has become more of a doubles specialist in recent years, winning here at Wimbledon 2007 with Michael Llodra. He was originally more of a baseliner renowned more for his tireless running and court coverage, but he is a strong volleyer and has turned that to his advantage here at the Championships, attacking far more than usual and winning points off a strong serve which he has honed on the doubles courts. In Wednesday’s quarter-final, he will face the man who knocked him out of this year’s Australian Open – Rainer Schuettler. The German has a very similar game to Clement – baseline consistency, fighting spirit and enough leg strength to get him up and down court and across the baseline. In another curious parallel, Schuettler’s finest hour also came at the Australian Open, and Agassi was again the man who beat him at the final hurdle, in 2003. He followed this up with trips to the last 16 of the other three Grand Slams that year, but this was as good as it would get for Schuettler in the singles. He teamed up with Nicolas Kiefer to win Olympic silver in 2004 and has since been a regular member of Germany’s Davis Cup team, despite being hampered by injuries and also a case of glandular fever (making him the third of this year’s quarter-finalists to have overcome the illness, along with Roger Federer and Mario Ancic). Schuettler has overcome Blake and Tipsarevic so far this fortnight, while Clement has had an easier ride, with Ljubicic, Davydenko, Mathieu and Nieminen all falling to other adversaries. And on Friday, one of them will be on Centre Court, facing either Nadal or Murray. “I said after the third round I won that I'm so happy I don't have to go to Cordoba to play challenger, because that was my schedule this week actually,” said a smiling Schuettler, in a moment of disarming frankness. “For me it is nice at some point in my life to come back and have the opportunity to go in the players' lounge and see the young players and to watch how they play.” Clement also realizes that this may well be his last day in the sun. "It was frustrating not winning any Grand Slam matches any more,” said the Frenchman, who had slipped to No. 145 in the world rankings. "I used to be consistent and then suddenly I lost it all. And why am I winning again now? I have no idea but it certainly cheers you up. I play my natural game more on grass. As for Wednesday, well… it’ll be a great opportunity for both of us!” With the boost in ranking points – and of course the non-quantifiable yet all important confidence factor – that their victories over the past ten days will have brought them, perhaps Wimbledon 2008 will indeed prove to have been a great opportunity for both of these two veterans to relaunch their careers.
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