Although at the prime of his time he showed flashes of brilliance, reaching four Grand Slam semifinals and the Sydney Olympics final in 2000, the former world number 2 failed to fulfill his entire potential. Battling injuries and family problems for most of his career, Haas became more like a part-time player on the ATP tour. He took a 14 months break to undergo a hip surgery in February 2010 and even though he returned in May last year, the recovery was tedious.
Ranked outside the Top 200 at the start of the season, the German star had to start again from scratch, having to play qualifyings in order to reach the main draw. Although doubting his decision, he went through with it and his hard work eventually paid off. A semifinal in München, a third round at Roland Garros and most importantly, a 13th career title in Halle.
Returning to the grass-court tournament for the first time since the title run in 2009, Tommy reproduced his best tennis, defeating the likes of Bernard Tomic, Marcel Granollers, Tomas Berdych, Phillipp Kohlschreiber, and ultimately, the king of grass, Swiss Roger Federer, to win collect one of the sweetest crowns in his career.
Having lost the last nine encounters with Federer, Haas was keen to get his revenge. Although the Swiss was quicker off the blocks, breaking serve in the first game of the match, the German kept his cool. Soon the unforced errors started pilling up for the Swiss and Haas took full advantage of his opponent's erratic display, closing out the victory in two sets.
“I don’t have many words to say really, except that it is an amazing feeling to win another title in Germany,” an emotional Haas said after the match. “[Winning] my thirteenth title was a goal of mine to maybe achieve in the next coming months, years or however long I am going to play. To have somebody across the net like Roger is a real honour for me. To have that picture with the winning trophy and Roger next to me is something really special, something I’ll obviously never forget. I’m just really happy and proud.”
For Federer, the loss marks another poor performance, very similar to the one against Djokovic in the semifinals of the French Open. With Wimbledon and the Olympic Games nearing up, Roger needs to readjust his game in order to be competitive enough to beat his arch rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
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| Due to his success, Federer quickly became a royalty in the small German town of Halle. To mark his committment to the Gerry Weber Open, the Swiss received a street named after, the 'Roger Federer Allee'. However, although hot favourite to bag his 6th crown, he was denied by the revigorated German Tommy Haas, who ensured a 7-6,6-4 win in the final. |
photos: GETTY IMAGES
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