Tommy Haas stuns Nicolas Almagro in the opening round – Shanghai Rolex Masters 2012
Former world number two, Tommy Haas of Germany, showed some of his past class, as he upset the ninth seeded player from Spain, Nicolas Almagro, in the first round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
The German contender lost the first set 4-6 but then bounced back to clinch the following two 7-6(4), 6-2 and move to the next stage.
Haas and Almagro won their serve in the first four games to equalise the score at 2-2. The Spaniard hit a blow to Haas in the fifth and consolidated on it to attain a 4-2 lead. Almagro did not allow his German opponent to fight
back, closing it 6-4.
The Spanish player served superbly, bombarding nine aces and 77 percent of the first serves on his opponent. The 27-year-old converted 17 of the 20 first and four of the six second deliveries into points. The 6ft tall did not provide
any break opportunity to his rival and capitalised on one of the three chances he created in the opener.
Almagro and Haas put on a remarkable serving display in the second set, as they did not drop even a single one till the end, evening out the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. Haas attained a 4-1 lead at the start and
sustained it till the end to triumph 7-6(4).
The German banged in four aces and committed the same number of double faults in the second set. The 34-year-old did well to put away all the five break threats he came across.
Momentum shifted on Haas’ side at the end of the second set and the veteran made sure that it remained on his side till the end, as he allowed Almagro to claim just a couple of games, claiming it 6-2.
The Florida resident hit a couple of aces and clinched 12 of the 13 first serve points. The 6ft 2in tall did not face any break point and converted two of the five he received in the final set.
Haas is slated to meet another Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, for a place in the last 16.
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