Tommy Haas bounces over Igor Andreev in the opening round – Mercedes Cup 2012
Eighth seeded local star, Tommy Haas, rallied from behind to outsmart the Russian contender, Igor Andreev, in straight sets at the Mercedes Cup 2012 on Tuesday. He nudged up a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory against the world number 89 to progress into the second
round at this outdoor clay court tournament taking place in Stuttgart.
The former world number two, Haas re-ignited his old spark to triumph over the 28-year-old in their third outing. After earning the limelight in one hour and 36 minutes, the German not only took lead in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
Head 2 Head series by 2-1 against Andreev but also booked a spot in the pre-quarters at the Tennis Club Weissenhof.
“I’m excited to be back,” said the jubilant German. “My family is here. My daughter gets to see me play a little bit even though she won’t realise the fact that I’m actually out there playing. It’s good. I had a tough opponent today, Igor Andreev, who’s
on his way back from injuries as well. I’m really happy about the fact that I got a victory over him on clay.”
Andreev thundered into this ATP World Tour 250 series event and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. Later he maintained his intensity and swiped his entire serves without facing any breakpoint, ultimately sealing the opener
by winning six games to four.
The 34-year-old German gained his strength with the help of his home crowd. He got the critical break in the second game and jumped to a 3-0 lead. Haas plucked his remaining serves without encountering any barriers and capitalised on another break chance
in the last game to bag the equaliser with a 6-2 win.
Currently ranked 52nd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Haas kept momentum running in the final set which matter the most. He quickly slid his entire serves without facing any breakpoint and cashed in half of the four break
opportunities to seal the decider with a 6-2 success.
All in all, the wildcard entrant prevailed in the latter half of the match. He clobbered a lower first serve share but smashed eight aces to earn the spotlight.
Haas will square off against the Slovakian qualifier, Pavol Cervenak, who battled past Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky in a three-set thriller to set up this battle. The Slovak was broken twice but cashed in six out of 12 break chance to formulate a 6-1, 4-6,
6-1 score line.
Tags: