Tommy Haas converted his first match point after 95 minutes of the final of the 20th GERRY WEBER OPEN, and the Hamburg-born pro did not know how to react. He shook his head on his way to shaking the hand of his good friend Federer and he could hardly comprehend what he had just achieved. At exactly 15:06, he took possession of the winner’s trophy from the hands of the 1993 GERRY WEBER OPEN winner Henri Leconte. “This is maybe the most beautiful success of my career,” said Haas. “I really wanted a 13th tournament success because 13 is my lucky number, but to do it here on German soil is incredible.” Haas was given a wildcard to participate in the tournament and, just a week ago, had never imagined winning it. “I just cannot fathom it and it is going to take a while before it sinks in. If somebody had told me beforehand that I would win the title here, and beat Roger Federer in the final, against maybe the best tennis player of all tie, I would have said you have lost your marbles,” said Haas at the conclusion of his dream week.
In front of over 11,000 spectators at the sold out GERRY WEBER STADION, it was GWO record champion Federer who made the better start. Haas, who like his Swiss opponent had only had his serve broken once on the way to the final, lost his very first service game, but at 3-1 down, he started to find his way into the match. In the fifth game, he crowned his comeback by breaking back to make it 3-3, and from that moment on, he was the most aggressive player. Haas took more risks while the World Rankings number three committed more and more unenforced errors and had to defend the first two set points. The decision was then made in a tie break when Haas, who first won the GERRY WEBER OPEN in 2009, was forced onto the back foot again, but after another rousing comeback, he converted his fourth set point.
Just like in the quarter-finals against Milos Raonic, Federer also lost the first set and he tried to raise the tempo in the second set. In the second game, the Swiss failed to take two break points and then he struggled more on his own serve than the German. The logical conclusion was that Haas broke to make it 5-4 at the end of one of the most spectacular rallies. Subsequently, the Wimbledon semi-finalist from 2009 held his nerve, served with the same consistency and benefited from one of the many unenforced errors from Federer to win his first match point. But Federer was a fair loser.
“I knew that it would be a tough match. To begin with, I wasted a few chances, but it was still a great week for me. Tommy was the better player after that and he deserves this win, truly.” It was Federer’s 105th final on the professional circuit, but not his 75th win. For Haas, it was the 13th triumph in 22 finals and the win lifts the German up to 51 on the ATP World Rankings.
Source: GWO Website
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