Tommy Haas re-ignites his spark before the US Open (Part Two) – Tennis Special
German icon, Tommy Haas, cracked the Top 50 once again after clinching his 13th career title at the Gerry Weber Open with a spectacular win over 17-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer. As a result, he not only gained
confidence but also high-spiritedly entered the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, United Kingdom.
However, the Hamburg native suffered a brutal five set shock at the hands of 27th seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber in the opening round of Wimbledon Championships, third of the four Grand Slam events held on the grass courts.
The following week, Haas overcame his Wimbledon loss with a three setter victory against the Russian qualifier, Igor Andreev, at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. He failed to keep his composure and crashed out to the Slovakian qualifier,
Pavol Cervenak, in the second round before seeking his rhythm again.
Apart from exiting in the early round in Stuttgart, the German star re-kindled his spark again at the bet-at-home Open in Hamburg. He crippled Slovakia’s Martin Klizan with a breadstick in the opening round and cruised into the
pre-quarters. Haas then went on to upset the defending champion and the second seed, Gilles Simon, in a three-set thriller before securing a place in the final eight. The German stayed focused and crushed his seventh seeded compatriot, Florian Mayer, with
a breadstick to reach semis at his home soil tournament.
The former world number two, Haas, maintained his intensity against the fourth seed, Marin Cilic, and pocketed the opener after ruling in the tie-breaker. In the second set, the German went berserk as he blasted powerful groundstrokes
and reeled off all six games in a row. After recording the victory with a bagel, Haas set up a date with the Argentinean number two, Juan Monaco, in the final showdown at Am Rothenbaum.
Regardless of bowing out to third seed Monaco in gruelling straight sets, the German veteran re-gained his confidence. He bagged 300 ranking points to climb to the 35th spot in the South African Airways ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Rankings.
Haas reflected after making a final berth at this ATP World Tour 500 series event held in Hamburg:
"He played a tremendous match. All credit to him. I tried to play my best; I thought I played really well throughout the match. He performed really well, especially when it came down to the big points. Having the crowd support
really lifted me to another gear, but it just wasn't enough today. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to get this feeling one more time, especially here in Hamburg. To have experienced another week like this with getting to the final is obviously
another dream week for me."
The jubilant German is looking forward to carry his rhythm at the Emirates Airline US Open Series tournaments and at the Flushing Meadows in Corona Park. He is eyeing to improve his best performance of making a quarter-final showing
at the US Open.
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