How will Tommy Haas fare at the Open?

[GotGame?]

Do you think Haas can finally make a breakthrough at a slam? He had a good run at these courts last year winning the Mercedes-Benz cup event, and had his best ever quarterfinal run. After the injuries and such, I would love to see Haas win, and I remember watching him back in 2002, this "stud" deserves a slam, and he's getting old...

 

[rhubarb]

I don't understand why Tommy "deserves" a slam...because he's a "stud"? Can't think of a worse reason.

 

[GotGame?]

I don't understand why should "deserve" a slam, he's never done anything much in slams before, has he?

IMHO, he does due to that he was once #2 in the world in 2002 and was so close to having his fair share of domination, if I'm correct, if not for the injuries and such... A guy like Haas with a winning combination of swagger and substance, as the latest tennis magazine puts it, would be a player that would be great to watch make his run.

 

[rhubarb]

IMHO, he does due to that he was once #2 in the world in 2002 and was so close to having his fair share of domination, if I'm correct, if not for the injuries and such... A guy like Haas with a winning combination of swagger and substance, as the latest tennis magazine puts it, would be a player that would be great to watch make his run.

He was number two for seven weeks in 2002, that's about it, and a fair distance from Hewitt as well (although not as far away as Hewitt is from Federer nowadays). The number of points he had then wouldn't even get him in the current top 5.

Nice backhand, pity about the injuries, and maybe I'm being too dismissive, but I think he's overrated.

 

[x Southpaw x]

IMHO, he does due to that he was once #2 in the world in 2002 and was so close to having his fair share of domination, if I'm correct, if not for the injuries and such... A guy like Haas with a winning combination of swagger and substance, as the latest tennis magazine puts it, would be a player that would be great to watch make his run.

I have never really seen a full match of Haas but from points shown on internet/news/tv etc... he really pulls off quite a few spectecular points.

 

[tennissavy]

In addition to his injuries, he is not mentally tough and that's funny because he looks a lot like Mauresmo!

 

[splink779]

He is one of the few all-courters left. Don't start yelling at me but he remindes me of a slightly lesser version of Federer. He can smack the ball from the baseline but also has beautiful touch and will come in. With his diminished serve his game has been suffering but he has been compensating. How unfortunate to sprain his ankle on a ball a ball boy should have picked up! Just as his confidence was starting to creep back too.

 

[x Southpaw x]

He is one of the few all-courters left. Don't start yelling at me but he remindes me of a slightly lesser version of Federer. He can smack the ball from the baseline but also has beautiful touch and will come in. With his diminished serve his game has been suffering but he has been compensating. How unfortunate to sprain his ankle on a ball a ball boy should have picked up! Just as his confidence was starting to creep back too.

Hmm.. he recovers fast and easily from a dive on clay court unscathed, but sprains his ankle by stepping on a ball...

 

[Noelle]

Stepping on a ball, much more landing on one after being airborne, is no laughing matter and causes a much more serious injury (all the yanked tendons and ligaments! ) than plain diving on a clay court (scrapes and bruises). It was really an unfortunate and very painful accident for poor Tommy Haas at Wimbledon.

I seriously doubt he'll ever win a Slam because of the dominance of the top players, particularly Federer. Barring mental breakdowns and physical injury, though, he really has the game to make it deep into Slams.

 

[Ultra2HolyGrail]

Not too good..

 

[gts072]

He's a nice guy with smooth strokes but he'll never be at a level to win a slam.

 

[uNIVERSE mAN]

he'll slip on the coin after the toss, break his collar bone and default.

 

[splink779]

he'll slip on the coin after the toss, break his collar bone and default.

That is a horrible thing to say, yet very funny.

 

[tennissavy]

I agree with Noelle. Falling over a ball, by accident, is probably more dangerous than intentional diving on a clay court.

Does anyone see the resemblance between Haas and Mauresmo? The only difference I can see is the hair.

 

[GrassCourtFan]

I'll reserve judgement on this until I see his hardcourt season... he'll need to post some pretty good results to keep his ranking up, he has some points to defend.

 

[IvanYentl]

I agree with Noelle. Falling over a ball, by accident, is probably more dangerous than intentional diving on a clay court.

Does anyone see the resemblance between Haas and Mauresmo? The only difference I can see is the hair.

He's closer to Rick Springfield in looks than he is to Ah-Manly Mauresmo

 

[tennissavy]

He's closer to Rick Springfield in looks than he is to Ah-Manly Mauresmo

Lol but no, seriously he looks like Mauresmo or david Hasselhoff.

 

[Babblelot]

I hope to hell the guy wins the whole thing. He's my #3 favorite player overall.

If I had to wager, however, I'd go "all-in" on ret. early Rd due to injury...that's assuming, of course, he's healthy enough to make the draw.

Poor guy...

 

[sedwickdotcom]

if he has a good run hell make it to the semis, but even that would require him to play exceptionally well, get a good draw, and have some of the top seeds taken out by others bc he sure cant do it

 

[Chadwixx]

much like phillopusis the ladies always thinks he has a shot.

facts are facts, he is put on the roddick side of the draw for a reason

 

[gugafanatic]

Haas has already made the s semis of two hard court event this year, and would have proably made it deep at the Aus Open prior to a mental breakdown after being 2 sets to love up against Beck. His serve has definitely lost its sting but he is still moving well and has a good few years ahead of him. The problem with Haas is that he is known to be upset against lower ranked players, soo you rarely see him play against the top guys.

One of the best matches I have ever seen was his epic against A.Rod at the Olympics last yr. Amazing shotmaking from both players, I think it was like 12-10 in the fifth set.

 

[Dr.Lobster]

haas does have nice strokes, his backhand is quite fun to watch

 

[Phil]

He'll do the same as he does in all Majors-he'll lose fairly early on. He's simply not good enough to win a Major-kinda like Henman, but not quite as GOOD as Tim.

 

[Phil Daddario]

He's a fun player to watch, and I love his backhand. But I don't think he's going to recover to well for that injury. Slipping on a ball like that is MUCH more potentially dangerous than diving on a clay court.

And even with that, there are a lot of really, really dominant players on hard courts. Not to say Haas wasn't once one of them, but with his recent game and with the injury...he's not good enough.

Early loss. I don't think there's a question.

 

[FedererUberAlles]

He's 1/2 of what Federer is.

 

[Fee]

He's not going to defend his points because he is not due to come back until Montreal, at the earliest. I like to watch Tommy play, I like his game, but he is a confidence player who gets better results the more he plays. Unless he can play a lot in the final weeks leading up to the open, I don't see him matching what he did last year (was that a QF or a 4th round match he lost to Hewitt?)

 

[theace21]

He won't make it to the 2nd week....

 

[ibemadskillzz]

I expect him to be the dark horse and win. I want to see him against Fed. Fed will struggle against him. I also want to see Nalbandian vs. Fed. Nalbandian is probably the only one with the winning recording against Fed

 

[gugafanatic]

Kuerten leads Fed 2-1. Guga is back in action against the Nedtherlands at Davis Cup.

"Guga's hip is great and he is fine to start the stage of preparation for the 2nd semester, keeping the strenght work and muscular resistance," explained the doctor, that is following the tennis player since the stage before his 2nd surgery in the right hip.

Lets hope he can regian confidence and make a run during the North American hard court swing.

 

[Matt H.]

Tommy Haas is the most unlucky player in tennis. There's ALWAYS something that ends up costing him big. At the Aussie Open in 02, he had Safin's number and was up 2 sets to 1. Problem was that he was riding on pure adrenalin cuz he played two 5 setters and a 4 setter, and when the rain delay came he was toast. His parents being in the motorcycle accident caused him to miss Wimbledon that year, and it turned out to be a REALLY weak field. Then at the Open his shoulder problems start and Sampras gets the tough 4 set win. That was his serious shot to win too.

Tommy is going to win the damn US Open this year!!

 

[basil J]

Tommy is a great all court player, that unfortunately can be a head case. I saw him play Hewitt last year on a very windy day at the US open. Hewitt was like a stone, Haas was having a meltdown because of the wind. Hewitt smoked him in straight sets. When Haas is on he has a beautiful game to watch. When he is off, poor Red has to listen to him whine and take his verbal assaults. I don't think he has the metal to won a slam unless he gets a VERY good draw. PS love to watch him play Keiffer. they go at it like two war mongers every time they play.

 

[Tchocky]

I'm going to see Haas play later this month at the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles as he tries to defend his title. I don't see him defending. I think Roddick will win.

 

[Fee]

I'm going to see Haas play later this month at the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles as he tries to defend his title. I don't see him defending. I think Roddick will win.

So you didn't read any other posts in this thread?

You're not going to see Tommy in LA. He's out until mid-August with an ankle injury.

 

[Matt H.]

So you didn't read any other posts in this thread?

You're not going to see Tommy in LA. He's out until mid-August with an ankle injury.

Did he pull out or not? His name is still listed on the MB website and the draw sheet.

 

[Fee]

Nope he's in. He posted on his website that he was coming back at the Montreal Masters, then a week later he posted that he had decided he was well enough to defend his title in LA. I hope he's right and that he isn't coming back too soon, but I have a really bad feeling about this. Friend of mine saw him practicing with Agassi on- site today and said he looked okay, but we'll just have to see how he holds up in a match. Fingers crossed, I like Tommy and want to see him do well.

 

[GotGame?]

Nope he's in. He posted on his website that he was coming back at the Montreal Masters, then a week later he posted that he had decided he was well enough to defend his title in LA. I hope he's right and that he isn't coming back too soon, but I have a really bad feeling about this. Friend of mine saw him practicing with Agassi on- site today and said he looked okay, but we'll just have to see how he holds up in a match. Fingers crossed, I like Tommy and want to see him do well.

Thanks for the info. I'm sure he wanted to defend, and if you say he's looking pretty okay, I hope to see a Haas/Agassi semifinal.

 

[ucd_ace]

I hate to say this because Tommy is my favorite player, but I haven't seen anything that makes me think he'll get through week one of the open. He usually plays pretty well at the open though, I hope he proves me wrong.

 

[AAAA]

This post is like all the 'how will Guga do at (the) <insert tournament here>' posts. The question should be 'What evidence have we seen that Haas or Guga are anywhere near their pre injury form interms of fitness, mental strength and playing ability?. For both players the answer is none when taking into account ALL three areas.

 

[GotGame?]

This post is like all the 'how will Guga do at (the) <insert tournament here>' posts. The question should be 'What evidence have we seen that Haas or Guga are anywhere near their pre injury form interms of fitness, mental strength and playing ability?. For both players the answer is none when taking into account ALL three areas.

IMO, Haas has gotten by far better results than Guga. He did win in LA last year and got to the quarters of the USO, which I'm sure not everyone expected. But I don't know if he can put up the type of fight he put up last year, considering the injury and what kind of form he's in, it has to affect him mentally also, but I don't think it is a fair comparison with Guga who hasn't been doing much at any of the slams recently.

 

[Matt H.]

I hate to say this because Tommy is my favorite player, but I haven't seen anything that makes me think he'll get through week one of the open. He usually plays pretty well at the open though, I hope he proves me wrong.

2001, 2002, and 2004.

His last 3 summer hard court seasons he's been one of the top guys. This is his bread-n-butter part of the season.

 

[AAAA]

IMO, Haas has gotten by far better results than Guga. He did win in LA last year and got to the quarters of the USO, which I'm sure not everyone expected. But I don't know if he can put up the type of fight he put up last year, considering the injury and what kind of form he's in, it has to affect him mentally also, but I don't think it is a fair comparison with Guga who hasn't been doing much at any of the slams recently.

That's my point, Guga AND Haas haven't been able to reach AND sustain their pre-serious-injury levels of play.

 

[GotGame?]

The votes were pretty much spot on. Haas looks to be in the twilight of his career, and it's a pity without a slam to his name...