In a day that will remain in the tennis history for Nalbandian’s madness (see article here), we have a fairy tale in Halle.
Wildcarded, 34 years old (and injury “survivor”) Tommy Haas defeats the King of Grass in straight sets to win an unexpected title. The match was showing a typical situation where there is a much stronger player (Federer) that is playing a weaker one. The outcome is quite straightforward unless the strong player has a very bad day and his opponent an inspiring one. And that was it!
Roger had a wonderful start to break Haas in the opening game, get a 3-1 lead and have a breakpoint to virtually seal the set and possibly the match. Federer’s tennis was utterly superior and there was a bit of… “Gosh Roger is destroying him.. poor Tommy… this is going to be embarassing” …
Game over? Yes… but in favour of Haas! Roger couldn’t convert that break point and he literally melted down to be broken in the following game. Then German became the absolute owner of the match as he had a clear upperhand on every rally. Roger was struggling to put in elementary shots. He was battling a lot with his forehand and his returns to service were completely inaccurate.
So the German won the first set and looking at Roger’s body language there was no sign of life. The Swiss tried to focus of putting the ball in, but unfortunately that tactic (the only one at that point) does not work on a fast grass court when your opponent is playing so well. Eventually Tommy broke Roger at the 9th game to win the second set 6-4.
“If someone had told me beforehand that I’d win the title here against probably the greatest player of all time, I would not have believed it,” said Haas, “It was a long time coming since I had the chance to get to that point,” said Haas, “It’s my 13th title. … It’s probably up there, if not the sweetest one, especially considering the injuries.”
“If I thought about it, this would be the perfect way to say goodbye to tennis. Beating Roger, my 13th title. It would be perfect. But I’m not ready mentally,” Haas added . “I hope the body holds up for many years to go. I love to play.”
“I’m very impressed with how he played today,” Federer said. “Tommy deserved to win.”
“I should never have lost the first set, so that hurt. He got momentum after that,” Federer said. “I’m just really happy for him … happy that he’s been able to fight off so many injuries and come back and still believe in himself, still want to travel, still want to sacrifice his family too,” Federer said of Haas.
