Haas stuns Federer to reach Stuttgart quarters

Published by Matt Trollope

Tommy Haas (L) shakes hands with Roger Federer after handing the No.1 seed a surprising defeat in the second round of the ATP event in Stuttgart; Getty Images
Tommy Haas scored just his fourth victory over Roger Federer in 17 meetings – yet his second on grass – to send the No.1 seed crashing out of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.

Tommy Haas has pulled off a remarkable victory over Roger Federer in Stuttgart to send ATP staff leafing through their record books.

Haas’s 2-6 7-6(8) 6-4 victory over the No.1 seed sees the 39-year-old advance to the quarterfinals, making him the oldest player to reach the last eight at an ATP event in 22 years.

“I’m mainly speechless of course,” Haas said. “Playing Roger is very special – especially on grass and also in Germany. It’s tough to put into words how I feel. It’s not easy to play a close friend. We both showed some nerves out there.”

The German veteran saved a match point in the second set to hand Federer his first opening-round defeat at a grasscourt tournament since 2002.

The result sent shockwaves through Twitter, with several eyebrow-raising stats shared in the wake of the defeat.

Federer was returning to competition for the first time in more than two months; his last match came in the final of Miami in early April, where he beat Rafael Nadal.

As Nadal stormed through the ensuing claycourt season, Federer chose to sit out the entire swing, focusing instead on preparing for his grasscourt campaign and a possible eighth Wimbledon title.

> WOODBRIDGE: Dreaming of the Wimbledon final

However, this was hardly the auspicious start the Swiss star was hoping for.

Federer led by a set and a break before dropping serve in the fourth game of the second set. He recovered from 4-6 in the tiebreak to earn a match point at 8-7, only for Haas to reel off the next three points to send the match into a decider.

Haas then broke serve in the fifth game of the third and ran out a victor after almost two hours on court.

“I’m very happy with the result. A lot of factors came into play: Roger had not played a match in 10 weeks,” Haas explained.

“Deep down I thought there might be a small chance for me if I played well and held my serve. You never know what can happen on grass. I tried to come out and play great tennis in front of my family and friends.

“I’m happy I was able to do it one more time in Stuttgart.”

In the quarterfinals he will face fellow German Mischa Zverev; the No.6 seed arrived in the last eight following a straight-sets win over German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.

Federer, after just his second loss of the season (the first came to Evgeny Donskoy in Dubai), will stay in Germany to contest next week’s ATP 500 event in Halle.

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