By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

American Todd Martin (above) couldn't handle No. 8 seed Rainer Schuettler Thursday (Michael E. Keating photo)

MASON - It has been a strange but good 12 months for Robby Ginepri since he left Cincinnati last year with one of the most embarrassing losses of his young career - a 6-0, 6-0 defeat to then-No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt on Center Court.

Ginepri, 20, is back with better results this year having advanced to today's quarterfinal round against eighth-seeded Rainer Schuettler. It marks Ginepri's third quarterfinal in a Tennis Masters Series tournament this year. He also picked up his first ATP tournament title this year in Newport, R.I.

"(Hewitt) was one of my first matches on a huge center court, playing in front of a lot of people live on ESPN," Ginepri said Thursday after a straight-set win against Gaston Gaudio in the round of 16. "I wasn't used to that. I was a little nervous going out there."

Nerves aren't a problem anymore for Ginepri on the tennis court, where his ranking has climbed to No. 43 in the world. But imagine the butterflies the young American must have felt in June when after a match in London, he was approached by a representative for Oscar-nominated actress Minnie Driver.

"She watched my match over in England against (Greg) Rusedski on TV at the Queen's Club," Ginepri said. "Next day, she came out there and kind of got somebody to say, 'Do you want to meet Minnie Driver?'

"I was like, 'Sure.' And it happened."

The "it" refers to the romantic relationship between Driver, 33, and Ginepri, 13 years younger, that ensued.

"I kind of said to myself, 'Why me?' Because I said, 'You can meet Andy (Roddick), or Andre (Agassi) or any of the guys.' I was the one picked. I asked her why. She was just like, 'I saw you playing on TV. There's something about you, and I wanted to meet you.' "

If Ginepri's tennis hasn't earned him more recognition, the relationship certainly has. It is no longer unusual for him to pick up a tabloid magazine and see himself and Driver pictured. Driver won't attend today's match, but their relationship seems to have garnered more buzz on the tour lately than that of Roddick and singer/actress Mandy Moore.

Ginepri is still no match for Roddick on the court, where his boyhood friend has risen to No. 4 in the rankings with four tournament titles this year. Ginepri, without a consistent history of success, remains a notch below Roddick and James Blake in terms of tennis exposure.

"Andy has dealt with the pressure terrific and so has James (Blake), and I've been creeping in there slowly," Ginepri said.

"It's interesting to watch all of us grow at different times. It'd be nice to not always be one step behind them and kind of break out."

Ginepri set his sights on a modest end to this season, just to be seeded in the top 32 by the time the Australian Open comes around in January. A solid showing against Schuettler today would help.

"Schuettler had a great week last week in Montreal," Ginepri said. "He makes a lot of balls. He's quick around the court, a great competitor."

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com