Tommy Haas stuns Gilles Simon to advance to final-16 – Rogers Cup 2012
World number 25, Tommy Haas of Germany, maintained his brilliant run on the ATP World Tour, as he upset the ninth seeded Frenchman, Gilles Simon, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada
on Wednesday.
Haas and Simon captured their opening serves to take the score to 1-1. The German star stung a break in the third and consolidated on it to secure at 3-1 lead. The former world number two continued to dominate, as he hit another
blow to Simon in the seventh game and made the most of his double advantage to win the opener 6-2.
The German contender gave an exceptional performance on his serve in the first set, banging in three aces and 72 percent of the first deliveries. The 6ft 2in tall converted 12 of the 13 first and four of the five second serves
into points. The right-hander did not provide any break chance to Simon and utilised two of the three he got of his own.
Haas and Simon started the second set in a steadier manner, as they did not allow each other to claim a breakthrough in the first six games and levelled the proceedings at 3-3. The German player took complete control of the contest
after that, as he struck twice and clinched three in a row to seal it 6-3.
The Los Angeles, USA resident pounded four aces and 75 percent of the first serves, grabbing 15 of the 18 points on them in the second set. Haas lost 14 of the 19 points on the first returns and won 13 of the 21 on the second ones.
The German player is now 34-year-old but he has started to play on the top level once again. He said, “If you're still having success and still believe in yourself and your body allows you to play at 32, 33, 34 and you still have
some success where you always feel like you can still do well, why not keep going? You might as well enjoy it while you can and make the best of it…”
Haas added, “I’ve had some injuries that obviously some of them were quite severe that I probably missed three, if not three and a half years in my career. You could say I’m in my early 30s, not mid 30s.”
The German competitor will play the world number 40, Radek Stepanek, in the third round.
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