Tommy Haas fights back to topple Radek Stepanek in the third round – Rogers Cup 2012
In a match between two veterans of the ATP World Tour, Germany’s comeback star, Tommy Haas, bounced back after a slow start to dismiss the world number 40, Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic, in the round of 16 at the Rogers Cup
on Friday.
The former world number two lost the first set 2-6 but then came back in style to win the following two 6-4 and 6-1 and moved to the last-stage at the Toronto Masters.
Stepanek dominated the match at the beginning, as he broke the German player in the very first game and held his following serve to gain a 2-0 lead. The Czech contender struck again in the seventh and served out the first set at
5-2.
The 33-year-old, Stepanek, smashed two aces and did not make any double fault, hitting just 50 percent of the first serves. The Monte-Carlo, Monaco resident’s conversion rate was the best part of his game, as he won eight of the
11 first and nine of the 11 second delivery points in the opener.
Second set was far more competitive than the first, as none of the two players managed to claim breakthrough in the opening nine games and took the score to 5-4 in favour of Haas. Serving to stay in the set at that moment, Stepanek
could not hold and lost it 4-6.
Haas banged in four aces and 66 percent of the first deliveries in the second set, converting 15 of the 19 of them into points. The German contestant was unable to respond well to Stepanek’s aggressive first serves, as he lost
13 of the 16 points on them but compensated a bit by converting the Czech’s seven of the 14 second ones into points.
In the third set, both players won their opening serves to square off the score at 1-1. It was an all Haas show later on, as he snatched two breaks, capturing five back to back games to win 6-1.
The German star hit only one ace and had a low first serve percentage but he dominated with the help of his fiery second returns once again, securing nine of the 13 points on them in the second set.
Haas required two hours and three minutes to undo his rival in a closely contested encounter.
The German contender will is pitted against the world number two, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, in the quarter-finals.
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