| Thursday, 3 July 2008 Written by Drew Lilley Rainer Schuettler outlasted Arnaud Clement in an epic match that lasted five sets, five hours 12 minutes and stretched over two days and three rain delays, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (9-7), 8-6, to set up a semi-final clash with Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.
The match pitched together two journeymen who had briefly got within touching distance of Grand Slam glory earlier in the decade before spending the subsequent years in the wilderness. Both tasted defeat in the final of the Australian Open to Andre Agassi – Clement in 2001, Schuettler in 2003 – and this was their first reappearance in the last eight of a Grand Slam – a 28-Slam absence for the Frenchman, 20 for his German opponent. They faced each other for the first time 11 years ago on the Challenger circuit and have been friends since then.
Due to rain, the match only got under way just before 7pm on Wednesday and was played out in front of a half-full arena as groans and the occasional cheers floated in from Centre Court and Henman Hill as Andy Murray succumbed to Rafael Nadal. It deserved a better audience, as Clement and Schuettler exchanged some great rallies right from the opening point.
It was always going to come down to service, and Clement’s was the more inconsistent to begin with. He tried everything to get himself into a decent rhythm – removing his sunglasses after suffering a first break in serve and then changing rackets after Schuettler has motored to a 5-1 lead on the back of an all-court game full of variation and accuracy.
The German then doubled-faulted – both coming from unlucky net cords – and suddenly had an attack of the jitters, squandering three set points. Clement broke and held, but found that he had dug himself too great a hole, and Schuettler finally took the opener on his fifth set point (despite not managing to register a first serve on any of them).
The second set had more of the same – variety from Schuettler, ups and downs from Clement – and it looked like it would go the distance until another change in glasses for the Frenchman coincided with him upping his game and breaking to level matters at 1-1. With night falling, play was suspended and the match was carried over until the following day, again on No. 1 Court.
There were far fewer empty seats on the Thursday, with French Tennis Federation president Christian Bimes among the crowd, and as the third set progressed, Bimes must have been looking forward to celebrating another Grand Slam semi-finalist after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian and Gael Monfils at the French Opens this year.
Clement came back out of the blocks the quicker of the two and was soon 4-1 to the good. "Just play your game!" exhorted Schuettler's sport adviser Axel Humbert, and the German started coming to the net and dominating points. He was also getting the better on the long rallies and the set ended up going to a tie-break after Schuettler broke back in the seventh game.
The tie-break was an exciting little vignette, which was a microcosm of the entire see-saw battle. Schuettler raced to the net on every occasion and raced to a 6-0 lead. With the set all but lost, Clement went for his shots and an incredible passing shot made it 6-4. Suddenly the tie was alive again, and the crowd – who got behind the Frenchman mainly due to his typically Gallic, laissez faire attitude to Hawk-Eye challenges – went wild when Clement made it 6-6 at the second change-over.
The burden of pressure then shifted to the Frenchman, who proceeded to double-fault and Schuettler finally managed to take the set at the seventh time of asking.
The fourth set mirrored the third, this time with Schuettler breaking early and Clement fighting back in the seventh. The Frenchman had three set points in the subsequent tie-break (two at 6-4, one at 7-6), which Schuettler saved, but Clement would not be denied and the crowd were given the fifth set they were hoping for.
Early breaks were exchanged in the decider as the match continued to ebb and flow, before play was suspended a second time, with the game almost four-and-a-half hours old. The match resumed half-an-hour later, and almost boiled down to an epic game on the Schuettler serve but the German saved a match-point, restored parity and then promptly broke to lead 6-5.
Game over? Not by a long chalk – Clement broke back to stay alive, and then the heavens opened, just as the Frenchman had fought back to deuce at 6-6.
With the 24-hour mark since the start of the game approaching, the sun re-emerged, followed by the players and Schuettler decided that it was time to seize the day.
He won the first two points after the resumption to break Clement, then served out to win the match. Schuettler thus became the third German to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon in the open era, after Boris Becker and Michael Stich. There was no time for celebrations, however. An exhausted Schuettler came off court with less than 24 hours to prepare for a semi-final date with Rafael Nadal.
| Court 1 - Gentlemen's Singles - Quarterfinals | |
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Match Statistics
Rainer Reigns In The Rain
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