Once upon a time Steffi Graf and Boris Becker, a German wunderkind who captured The Championships title aged 17, ruled the tennis world. Graf won the last of her seven women’s singles title in 1996, while Becker was a charismatic superhero who hurled himself across the lawns of the All England Club. Michael Stich, who lifted the 1991 Wimbledon title, joined the fans’ favourites to keep tennis at the forefront in the minds of the German public.
Tommy Haas, like Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler, had the misfortune to begin their careers just as the powers of the triumvirate were beginning to wane. The press has often made unfavourable comparisons.
Haas was a boyhood prodigy at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, who rose to a career-high No. 2 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.
Three semi-final exits at the Australian Open and an Olympic silver medal at Sydney in 2000 have thus far been the pinnacles of a career blighted by injuries. He has been written off as a spent force after a series of ankle, wrist, hip, shoulder and back injuries over the course of his 14-season pro career. But has fought back to become an inspiration.
Now, at 31 years old, a tour veteran, he finds himself in the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time in 11 visits. It is his first Grand Slam championship quarter-final since the 2007 US Open.
After saving two match points against Marin Cilic in the third round at The Championships this year, followed by a straight-forward victory over Igor Andreev, Haas and the German nation are starting to dream again.
Haas has never felt fitter or happier. “Age is really just a number in many ways”, he said. “I know that I am 31. I have a little bit more miles in my legs than maybe some other players that are younger than me. Once you’re out there, I think you leave that all behind and just go out there and compete and try to win.”
Under the guidance of coach Thomas Hogstedt and physio Alex Stober, Haas is a man in form. He is on a nine-match winning streak, which includes a 12th ATP World Tour title at Halle, since losing a closely-fought encounter against Roger Federer at Roland Garros earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Haas, the oldest player left in the singles draw, meets fourth seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the youngest player, in a repeat of this month’s Gerry Weber Open final.
“This is so far a fantastic run no matter what happens from here on out,” admitted Haas. “[I’m] really happy and pleased to make it to the Last Eight club. So that's really nice.
“In Halle, everything just kind of came together really well. I couldn’t have asked for anything more during that week on home turf, which was great. I obviously took that high with me here. Every match [I’m] trying to keep doing the things that have been working for me.”
For the first time since the 2000 US Open, Germany has two representatives in the singles quarter-finals. On Wednesday Haas will hope not to repeat the fate of compatriot Sabine Lisicki, who lost to top seed Dinara Safina in the women’s quarter-finals on Tuesday.
(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/06/Wimbledon-Wednesday2-Haas-Preview.aspx)
