Tommy Haas thrashes Florian Mayer to reach semi-finals – German Tennis Championships 2012
Wild card entrant, Tommy Haas of Germany, did not show any respite to his countryman, Florian Mayer, bulldozing him in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 at the last-eight stage of the Bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships in Hamburg
on Friday.
The former world number two, Haas, dropped just five games in the entire encounter, taking only an hour and 11 minutes to beat his opponent 6-1, 6-4.
Haas impressed by demonstrating his impressive play, delivering almost flawlessly in the first set. The German allowed his compatriot to claim only one game until the end, breaking him three times and consolidating on all of them
to triumph 6-1.
Currently ranked 49th in the world, Haas banged in one ace and 68 percent of the first deliveries, sealing 14 of the 19 points on them. The 34-year-old snatched five of the nine second serve and four of the six second
return points. In comparison, Mayer lagged behind, losing four of the six second delivery and five nine second reply points.
Haas and Mayer gave a steady performance in the second set, winning their opening eight serves to level the score at 4-4. The German struck in the ninth game and served it out at 5-4.
Both players hit three aces and committed one double fault in the second set. Haas had a low first serve percentage of 55, converting 13 of the 17 of them into points. The 6ft 2in tall fared remarkably well on the second deliveries
and returns, as he claimed nine of the 14 and six of the 10 points on them respectively. The Hamburg, Germany born saved all the three break points he faced and converted one of the three he received.
Haas said, commenting on the just concluded match, "It's never easy playing him; he's got a tough game that is a little different style. It's very effective and I had to bring my best game today in order to win.”
The German will now face Croatia’s 15th ranked player, Marin Cilic, at the last-four stage. Cilic defeated Albert Ramos in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(5) in the quarter-finals.
At the end of his match, Cilic talked about his coming match against Haas. He stated, "[Haas] has played really well throughout the week. We played in the Munich semi-finals, which was a tough match. Here, he has the home support
so it will be interesting."
Haas and Cilic have already met two times before, sharing one win each.
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