Tommy Haas climbing the ranking ladder once again: (Part One) – Tennis Special
Former world number two, Tommy Haas, has been slowly moving towards the top of rankings and if he continues to play like this, there are chances that he will enter the Top-10 once again.
Tennis has seen very few players as talented as this German. He is a versatile player, who can be a threat for his rivals on any surface. His single handed back hand is a treat to watch at a times when almost all the players on
the ATP World Tour play it two-handed.
However, luck has played many time with the Hamburg born athlete. His career came to a halt on a couple of timee due to different reasons.
Haas is from the same crop of players from which the best player in the history of the sport, Roger Federer, belongs. The German had joined the list of elite players even before Federer, as he had started to reach title matches
back in 1997. He grabbed his first crown in 1999 and the added four more in 2001. The German player’s consistent performance on all the surfaces throughout the season took him among the top two players in the world at the start of 2002.
However, a tragic accident happened with Haas’ parents at that moment, which resulted in his father falling in a coma. The German star stopped playing tennis and started to take care of his parents.
Remembering the accident, Haas had said, ''My girlfriend was crying and all I heard was that there was a motorcycle accident. Right away, I knew it was my parents. At that moment, my head froze. I'm thinking about them all the
time. My dad has a long road ahead.”
Before this lay off, Haas had a positive head-to-head record against most of the top players of that time. The German led 2-1 against Federer and Andy Roddick, 2-0 against Jim Courier, 3-0 against Roddick. He was tied at 5-5 with
the best player of that era, Pete Sampras.
When Haas was about to restart his tennis activity, he suffered a severe shoulder injury which delayed his comeback. The German had to under go operation on his shoulder. Haas’ lay-off from tennis circuit exceeded 12 months and
the player who was at the number two postion a year back, dropped out of the ATP Rankings.
The German restarted to play competitive tennis in 2004 but he could not focus on his tennis properly after sustaining the trauma for so long.
Giving an interview back then, he said, "Now that I've had a 15-month layoff, I'm looking at this as my second career. I reached some things in my first career that I'm really proud of, but there are still a few that I want to
achieve or try to achieve in my second one. But I'm going to have to be patient with myself."
Haas returned to the top 10 in 2007 but he was troubled with injuries once again. The German never faced defeat and kept fighting with his body. He was forced to stay from international circuit again from February 2010 to May 2011
due to injuries.
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