Dan, it was about 8yrs or so ago, at a US open in Ft Lauderdale in the US. I was working there at the time, and came in early to watch the pros getting ready and train etc... turned out, I came in a bit too early, was walking around looking at some of the pros coming in, when in walks Werner. So I asked him for an autograph, he spotted my equipment, and jokingly said it looks like you are a 'good player'. At this point stuttering and completely embarrassed (as well as lost) I stuttered something along the lines of oh no, not by any means.... anyway, he says, I dont believe you - there is an empty table - lets go hit a few... after a few mins, when I calmed down and my arms stopped trembling, I managed to hit a few decent balls, which was when he came round to my end of the table and gave me some tips, and spent another 15 or so mins blocking my loops, giving encouragement and tips.
Werner Shlager was a completely TOP, TOP bloke, he is the nicest, and friendliest top player I ever met - to this day I scoff at the 'so called top' players in my club even, who refuse to play with people they deem to be 'below' them.... if Werner Shlager can give 15mins of his time to a nobody, whom he didnt know from Adam - then anyone else who thinks they are above that need to take a deep look at themselves