Kratochvil loses Shanghai final
Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil has been beaten in his first ever appearance in an ATP final, losing in straight sets to Germany's Rainer Schüttler in Shanghai.
The young Bernese player, who was seeded third in the $400,000 tournament, got off to the worst possible start, suffering a break of serve in his first service game of the match.
Schüttler, seeded second, went on to take the first set 6-3. The second set was a tighter affair, but the German again proved his superiority, breaking the 22-year-old Swiss in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead.
Schüttler, who lies six places above Kratochvil in the world rankings, wrapped up victory with his first match point to secure only his second ATP tournament success.
Despite losing, the Swiss, who lines up in Hong Kong next week, was far from downhearted. “Sure, I would have liked to win my first tournament, but Schüttler was better on the day,” he said.
“Still, I feel I’ve had the best week of my life, and there will certainly be other opportunities.”
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