Sjeng Schalken
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| Country |  Netherlands |
|
| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| Date of birth | September 08, 1982 | |
| Place of birth | Weert, Netherlands | |
| Height | 6'4 (193 cm) | |
| Weight | 181 lbs (82 kg) | |
| Turned Pro | 1994 | |
| Plays | Right | |
| Career Prize Money | $5,192,798 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 292-267 | |
| Career titles: | 9 | |
| Highest ranking: | 11 (April 21, 2003) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 4th (2004) | |
| French Open | 3rd(1999, 2002, 2003) | |
| Wimbledon | QF (2002 - 2004) | |
| U.S. Open | SF (2002) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 128-133 | |
| Career titles: | 6 | |
| Highest ranking: | 21 (May 20, 2002) | |
Sjeng Schalken (born September 8, 1976) is a professional male tennis player from the Netherlands.
A right-handed baseliner with a single-handed backhand, Schalken's game is characterised by his consistency of both wings and his flat, old-fashioned, continental technique on both the forehand and backhand. The latter is his major weapon, a stylish but durable 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 was Ivan Lendl, and there are some similarities in the repetitive nature of their stroke production, perhaps harshly labelled "robotic" by some commentators. The signature shot that many tennis fans know him for, however, is his abbreviated serve, a shortened action that involves no knee bend and little racquet-head speed. When he first started out as a pro he had a complex service motion with many moving parts, but still generated little speed, and so his coach had him simplify the action in 1996. While lacking pace, Schalken normally averages a very high first serve percentage over the course of a match, and good placement makes it difficult to attack; on surfaces such as grass and fast hardcourts, his slice serve often skids through the court and away from the opponent.
Schalken is renowned for his placid on-court demeanour, seemingly reacting in the same manner whether trailing or leading. But like many outwardly calm players, he is inwardly very emotional; 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, and at times his anger still bubbles to the surface with costly results (see below).
Schalken turned professional in 1994 having been an oustanding junior, winning the US Open junior event in 1994. He won his first career title on clay in Valencia at the age of 19, defeating Gilbert Schaller in the final. He was the youngest winner on tour for that year, 1995, and the next year as well when he defeated Younes El Aynaoui in the final in Jakarta for his second title. The impressive consistency of Schalken's career is demonstrated by the fact that he managed to win at least one ATP tournament eight out of nine years from 1995 to 2003, the sole exception being 1998.
Schalken won his fourth title against Tommy Haas in Auckland in January 1999, exactly three years after his younger brother died of cancer, and dedicated the victory to him. His biggest scalp in a final was most probably Marcelo Rios, whom he overcame to win the event in Boston in 1997.
During the 1990s Schalken's Grand Slam record was extremely 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, which had proved a significant stumbling block, especially at Wimbledon. It was there that he suffered heartbreaking final-set defeats three years in a row, losing in 1998 to Jan-Michael Gambill 8-6 in the fifth, in 1999 to Jim Courier 13-11 in the fifth, and in 2000 in a 5 hour, 5-minute marathon to Mark Philippoussis 20-18 in the deciding set, the longest singles match at Wimbledon since the introduction of the tiebreak. Afterwards he was moved to comment, "I think Wimbledon doesn't want to have me in the fourth round."
Ironically, it was at the very same tournament two years later that Schalken made the breakthrough at last. He came in to Wimbledon on the back of an outstanding grass-court season, in which he had made the semi-finals at Queen's Club losing to eventual champion and world no. 1 Lleyton 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 servers Jeff Morrison and Jan Vacek in straight sets to reach a quarter-final 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 quarter-final 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, where in awkward windy conditions on Arthur Ashe stadium, he bested former world no. 1 Gustavo Kuerten in the last 16 and the dangerous but erratic Fernando Gonzalez 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 semi-finals against eventual champion Pete 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 to date, 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 ranking of 11 and stood one more outstanding result away from the Top 10, but a quarter-final loss in Munich to Yevgeny Kafelnikov scuppered his chances. Nevertheless, he once more excelled on grass, defending his 's-Hertogenbosch title with a repeat win over Frenchman Arnaud Clement in the final, before matching the previous year's quarter-final 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 to Roger Federer for the fourth time that year in straight sets. Both men went into the encounter with injury problems, Schalken with a blistered foot and Federer a sore back, but the Swiss had recovered the better and was in any case too good for his opponent.
After an unremarkable summer hardcourt season, Schalken arrived at the US Open and successfully defended the majority of his semi-finalist 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 of Andy 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 over Rainer Schuettler, his third win over the impressive German counterpuncher that year after Wimbledon and US Open victories. With the title Schalken became only the second active player after Andre Agassi to win tournaments in five different continents, Agassi's first ever title having come in the same country at Itaparica sixteen years earlier.
Normally a reliable performer in the indoor season, Schalken won just one match in a series of indoor tournaments that October, but other things were understandably on his mind; he married his fiancee 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 conclusively defeated by Andy Roddick. But his form then took a sharp downturn and he managed only one quarter-final in the next five months, a period that reached its lowest point when he was defaulted from his match with Guillermo Canas at the Masters Series event in Miami for verbally abusing the umpire. 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. Their friendship was strengthened by the incident, although it did not make Roddick go any easier on Schalken in their Grand Slam encounters, as the latter jokingly hoped would happen before their second Wimbledon meeting.
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 with mononucleosis, a debilitating virus that limited his strength; his one achievement was to reach a third consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final, where for the third time in the space of a year he fell in straight sets to Andy Roddick, though not without his chances in a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9), 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 Swede Joachim 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 players Marco Chiudinelli and Stanislas Wawrinka in the Netherlands' Davis Cup win over Switzerland. He injured his right achilles in the spring and was forced off the tour in July, since then his only tournament at any level to date has been a semi-final showing in the Bergamo challenger in Italy, in February of this year.
Titles (15)
Singles (9)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in final | Score |
| 1 | October 2, 1995 | Valencia, Spain | Clay | Gilbert Schaller (Austria) | 6-4, 6-2 |
| 2 | January 8, 1996 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Hardcourt | Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 3 | August 18, 1997 | Boston, USA | Hardcourt | Marcelo Rios (Chile) | 7-5, 6-3 |
| 4 | January 11, 1999 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hardcourt | Tommy Haas (Germany) | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 5 | October 9, 2000 | Tokyo, Japan | Hardcourt | Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) | 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 |
| 6 | October 22, 2001 | Stockholm, Sweden | Hardcourt | Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) | 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 |
| 7 | June 17, 2002 | 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands | Grass | Arnaud Clement (France) | 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 |
| 8 | June 16, 2003 | 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands | Grass | Arnaud Clement (France) | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 9 | September 8, 2003 | Costa do Sauipe, Brazil | Hardcourt | Rainer Schuettler (Germany) | 6-2, 6-4 |
Doubles (6)
1995: Amsterdam (partnering Marcelo Rios)
1999: Amsterdam (partnering Paul Haarhuis)
2000: Shanghai (partnering Paul Haarhuis)
2001: Milan, 's-Hertogenbosch, Amsterdam (partnering Paul Haarhuis)
Quotes
"I think I'm like wine: I get better with age."
On why it took him so long to improve in the Grand Slams.
"Of course, it's more advantage if people starting to know me. They know how I play. Okay, there are always some people who like the power tennis, but I don't have that game. I have to dig deep many times. My serve is just not that great. But I have other things: good backhand, good backhand, attacking style from the ground. If people also in New York start to notice that, they like that, I think they can come and watch my matches, of course."
On his growing recognition at the US Open.
"No, that's my gift. I wish I had the gift of Pete's serve. That would be nice."
On whether he had to work hard to achieve his backhand.
"I know I play boring tennis, or 'solid' as the euphemism is."
After winning a dead rubber in Davis Cup against Canada's Simon Larose.
"That's my game also. So I think everybody who is going to watch the match has to take a picnic bag with them."
On whether he would have to persevere against the grinding style of Vince Spadea in their upcoming Wimbledon match.
