A right-handed baseliner with asingle-handed backhand, Schalken's game is characterised by his consistency of both wings and his continental technique on both the forehand and backhand. The latter is his major weapon,[1][2] a rallying shot that is also capable of being struck for winners either cross-court or down the line. The player he admired most while growing up wasIvan Lendl.[3]
Schalken is known for his placid on-court demeanour, seemingly reacting in the same manner whether trailing or leading.[4] But as a junior and a young pro he had an explosive temper that, he has stated, hindered him in many matches and caused him to lose through not thinking clearly. Only in 1999 did he manage to suppress his emotional side while on court and develop a more level-headed temperament, although he was disqualified from the Nasdaq-100 Open in 2004 for verbally abusing the umpire.[5]
He won his first career title on clay in Valencia at the age of 19, defeatingGilbert Schaller in the final. He was the youngest winner on tour for that year, 1995, and the next year as well when he defeatedYounes El Aynaoui in the final in Jakarta for his second title. Schalken managed to win at least oneATP tournament eight out of nine years from 1995 to 2003, the sole exception being 1998.
Schalken won his fourth title againstTommy Haas inAuckland in January 1999, exactly three years after his younger brother died of cancer, and dedicated the victory to him.[7] He overcameMarcelo Ríos to win the event in Boston in 1997.
During the 1990s Schalken's Grand Slam record was meagre, amassing a win/loss total of only 4–14 up until the start of 1999. It took him until his 29th major to finally get past the third round. At Wimbledon he suffered final-set defeats three years in a row, losing in 1998 toJan-Michael Gambill 8–6 in the fifth, in 1999 toJim Courier 13–11 in the fifth, and in 2000 in a 5-hour, 5-minute marathon toMark Philippoussis 20–18 in the deciding set, the longest ever final set in Wimbledon men's singles history at the time (his record was later beaten by John Isner and Nicolas Mahut in 2010).[8] Afterwards he was moved to comment, "I think Wimbledon doesn't want to have me in the fourth round."[9]
It was at the very same tournament two years later that Schalken made his Grand Slam breakthrough. He came into Wimbledon on the back of an outstanding grass-court season, in which he had made the semifinals at Queen's Club losing to eventual champion and world No. 1Lleyton Hewitt before going on to win the title the following week in 's-Hertogenbosch, his first title on home soil and his first trophy on grass. Benefiting from a draw that opened up, he progressed past unseeded big serversJeff Morrison andJan Vacek in straight sets to reach a quarterfinal encounter with Hewitt, where he once again came undone in five sets. From being 6–2, 6–2 down, he squeezed out a third set tiebreak, ran away with the fourth 6–1 and was twice up a break early in the deciding set, as well as having a chance to serve for the match at 5–5, but his advantage was always short-lived; Hewitt broke to take the contest 7–5 in the fifth. However, Schalken remained the only man to take any sets off Hewitt for the entire fortnight, and finished with a grass-court record of 12–2, second only to the world No. 1 (14–0).
Buoyed by this success, he very soon surpassed his quarterfinal achievement at the US Open, where he benefited in the opening round from a retirement by Mark Philippoussis when the Australian reinjured his troublesome knee, having led two sets to love. Schalken moved through to the second week beatingIvan Ljubičić andSargis Sargsian, where on theArthur Ashe Stadium, he bested former world No. 1Gustavo Kuerten in the last 16 andFernando González in the quarters. Both matches were littered with tiebreaks and decided upon them too, with Schalken proving the steadier man in the end; however, he still lost as many as he won, and this proved to be his undoing in the semifinals against eventual championPete Sampras, coming out on the wrong end of two close tiebreaks before falling 6–2 in the third set.
2003 proved to be Schalken's most solid year, in which he compiled a best-ever 41–24 win–loss record and once again turned in good Slam performances at Wimbledon and the US Open. In early May 2003, he reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 and stood one more outstanding result away from the top 10, but a quarterfinal loss in Munich toYevgeny Kafelnikov scuppered his chances. Nevertheless, he once more excelled on grass, defending his 's-Hertogenbosch title with a repeat win over FrenchmanArnaud Clément in the final, before matching the previous year's quarterfinal at Wimbledon. Again he lost to the eventual champion, but this time the outcome was never in doubt, as he lost 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 toRoger Federer for the fourth time that year in straight sets.
After an unremarkable summer hardcourt season, Schalken arrived at the US Open and successfully defended the majority of his semifinalist points; for the fourth time in a little over a year he lost to the future champion, this time a straight-sets demolition at the hands ofAndy Roddick in the quarters. However, he got over the loss quickly; the following week he flew south to the tournament in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, held on hardcourt for the last time, and captured the title with a 6–2, 6–4 win overRainer Schüttler, his third win over the German that year after Wimbledon and US Open victories. With the title Schalken became only the second active player afterAndre Agassi to win tournaments on five different continents.
Schalken won just one match in a series of indoor tournaments that October, but other things were on his mind; he married his fiancée Ricky Pfennings on 21 November. The following year, 2004, began promisingly enough with a semifinal showing in Chennai followed by a first ever run to the second week in Australia, where he was defeated by Andy Roddick. But his form then took a sharp downturn and he managed only one quarterfinal in the next five months, a period that reached its lowest point when he was defaulted from his match withGuillermo Cañas at the Masters Series event in Miami for verbally abusing the umpire.[5] There were other dramatic moments too; the weekend before the Rome Masters tournament, a fire broke out in the hotel where many players were staying including Schalken and his wife. They were both trapped in their room and had to jump down from their balcony to the one below, which happened to be occupied by Andy Roddick who helped them to land safely.[10]
Only when Schalken had to pull out of Roland Garros, ending a sequence of 35 straight majors played, did it become clear that something was wrong physically. At the end of the year he was diagnosed withmononucleosis, a debilitating virus that limited his strength; his one achievement was to reach a third consecutive Wimbledon quarterfinal, where for the third time in the space of a year he fell in straight sets to Andy Roddick in a 7–6, 7–6, 6–3 defeat.
Having to miss the US Open, Schalken returned in the autumn without success and then played at the Australian Open the following January, where he lost to big-serving SwedeJoachim Johansson in straight sets. His 2005 season proved as limited as the second half of 2004 had been, his most notable results being two five-set victories against Swiss playersMarco Chiudinelli andStanislas Wawrinka in the Netherlands' Davis Cup win over Switzerland. He injured his right Achilles tendon in the spring and was forced off the tour in July, since then his only tournament at any level to date has been a semifinal showing in the BergamoChallenger in Italy in February 2006.
Netherlands
Mehdi Tahiri
Gilbert Schaller
Marcelo Ríos
Tommy Haas
Nicolás Lapentti
Magnus Norman
Andy Roddick
Jarkko Nieminen
Arnaud Clément
Wayne Arthurs
Neil Broad
Kenneth Carlsen
Stefano Pescosolido
Eyal Ran
Petr Pála
Tom Vanhoudt
Àlex Corretja
Luis Lobo
Christian Ruud
