Out of the shadows
Haas is on the upswing Down Under
Posted: Wednesday January 27, 1999 10:19 PM
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Haas: "It was a big match for me and I'm really happy to be in my first semifinal in a Grand Slam." AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- For so long, Tommy Haas has been surrounded by bigger names.
He learned his tennis in the same Florida academy that produced Andre Agassi and Jim Courier. He comes from a country that has the likes of Boris Becker, Steffi Graf and Michael Stich.
Now, slowly, Haas is starting to get noticed.
He delivered his biggest Grand Slam victory Wednesday, a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, 6-3 win over Vince Spadea that put him in the semifinals of the Australian Open against Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
It is the first time the 20-year-old has moved beyond the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.
Haas is only the fourth German man to make the semifinals in a Grand Slam since the start of the Open era in 1968. The others are Becker, Stich and Karl Meiler, who reached the 1973 Australian semis. Becker has won six Grand Slams, including the Australian twice.
"I have some goals in my life, and that is to play good tennis, maybe win a Grand Slam tournament one year in my career, and to come into the top 10," Haas said.
Haas is ranked 33rd in the world. He has been working for 10 years under Agassi's former coach Nick Bollettieri in Florida. He finished high school in the United States in 1996, when he made his debut on the ATP Tour.
"I phoned Nick and I phoned my father straight after today's match," Haas said. "It was a big match for me and I'm really happy to be in my first semifinal in a Grand Slam."
In 1998, Haas was Germany's top male player, beating out Nicolas Kiefer, who ousted No. 4 seed Carlos Moya in the first round.
Spadea, who beat Agassi, the No. 5 seed, in the fourth round, also was making his first appearance in the quarterfinals of a major. But he had no answer for Haas' forehand.
In the ninth game of the third set, Spadea double faulted to give Haas the advantage. The match was sealed when Spadea hit a forehand return long.
Haas said he began feeling tired in the third set and his legs cramped.
"I am trying to do my best every time I go out on the court," he said. "And everything went pretty well."
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