Haas ´shocked´ to beat rusty Federer as Germans flourish in Stuttgart
Tommy Haas stunned Roger Federer as German players progressed from three of the four second-round matches to be played at the Stuttgart Open on Wednesday.
Federer’s long-awaited return to the ATP Tour did not produce the victory the Swiss would have hoped for despite cruising through the opening set.
After 10 weeks off, the 18-time grand slam champion looked understandably rusty, and Haas took full advantage as he battled back to win 2-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 – a victory that even surprised the 39-year-old.
“I’m pretty speechless. Playing Roger is always very special, especially on grass. It’s tough to put it into words right now, a lot of emotions,” he said in his on-court interview.
“I am obviously very happy about the win, and kind of, sort of, shocked myself.
WHAT A MATCH! Tommy Haas wins in three sets against #Maestro Roger Federer. tournament! Foto Credit: Peter Staples /ATP World @ATPWorldTour pic.twitter.com/n0vMJmglX7
— MercedesCup (@MercedesCup) June 14, 2017
“He hasn’t played a match in 10 weeks. The first match back is always the toughest, so maybe deep down I thought to myself there’s maybe a small chance if I can serve well and play well, hold my serve, and that was the case.
“I didn’t really believe it [that I could beat Federer] to be honest.”
Haas will face sixth seed Mischa Zverev in the last eight after his straight-sets win over qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.
Germany’s third win of the day came as Steve Johnson – seeded fifth – came up short in a thrilling battle with Philipp Kohlschreiber, the American losing 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 7-6 (8-6) after more than two and a half hours on court.
However, Jan-Lennard Struff was unable to make it a clean sweep for the host nation as he lost a deciding-set tie-break against Lucas Pouille.
Struff saved four match points but also let one of his own slip by before Pouille, the fourth seed, found the baseline with a crisp groundstroke to complete a 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-8) win.
