Wimbledon - Simon Reed: Tommy Haas a chance

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Jul 12:08:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! blogger Simon Reed believes Tommy Haas will push Roger Federer hard in their semi-final after his victory over Novak Djokovic.

TENNIS 2009 Wimbledon Haas Agency: Téléfoot - 0

Haas (pictured) is playing the best tennis of his life at the moment, and I can see him easily winning a set in his match against the world number two.

Federer should still have enough to beat him if he is at the top of his game, but it will be intriguing and there will not be much between them.

Anyone who follows tennis will recognise what an astonishing comeback the German has made after recovering from surgery twice; it has been an incredible effort.

The first time he was out for 15 months, and many players do not return after that kind of lay off, at any level, let alone at the top of the sport.

His progress has been astonishing. He will be in the top 20 on Monday, and there is every chance that if he continues to play the way he is, he will be in the world's top 10 by the end of the year.

Djokovic performed very strangely in his defeat to Haas, and for long periods it was close, but then the Serb would then throw in a very ugly game.

In fact, he threw in a sloppy game three times and that is purely down to a lack of concentration, which at this level you simply cannot afford to do.

I just do not know why he had an aberration at those key points in the sets, but it cost him dearly.

Djokovic changed his racket provider, and that has not helped his game one bit. I understand he is getting £4 million a year from that deal alone, but to what cost for his game?

The Serb will recover from this, but Andy Murray has clearly passed him now and he will have to work mighty hard to claw his way back into the top three in the world.

Haas has a beautiful game to watch, and he plays superbly on grass. He has surprised a lot of people this year with his performance against Federer at Roland Garros, and now his run at Wimbledon.

In the French Open he was one point away from beating Federer, with a break point to go 5-3 up and serve for the match, and that kind of performance does not happen by accident.

I think Haas could win a Grand Slam in the future, particularly if the rumours about the extent of Rafael Nadal's injury problems are true.

If Nadal does not return to the game as the force he was before his injury, there is an argument to be made for Federer dominating the game as he did before he was so closely challenged by the Spaniard.

There is then a second tier of about five players challenging, and that is what makes the men's game so enthralling at present.

Federer won today without many problems and to be honest, his match up with Ivo Karlovic was never going to trouble him too much.

It will most certainly be a different matter against Haas in the semi-final though, and I am very much looking forward to that contest.

I was slightly worried that Murray would suffer a slight relapse after his epic victory over Stanislas Wawrinka in the previous round, but he seemed totally focused.

The Brit looked very happy to be playing outdoors again, and he got the job done in a very professional manner: I really did like what I saw from him.

I think Juan Carlos Ferrero's game was tailor-made for him because, although he has strong shots, he does not have the killer power required to shock him.

The only guys who beat Murray nowadays are the ones who really go at him in a gung-ho manner and Ferrero is simply not that kind of player.

I always saw Murray winning the match pretty easily, and the only issue was whether there would be some kind of reaction after the Wawrinka match, and there was none.

His semi-final opponent Andy Roddick battled tremendously hard to come through his match with Lleyton Hewitt in five sets.

I disagree that the American may be weary after the match, because the points were short and he will recover by Friday.

Murray will have too much for Roddick in the semis, and I see the Brit coming through the match without any problems at all.

I have never felt that either Roddick or Hewitt would provide a particularly stern test for the world number three, and I think that his game will be far too strong.

I think Murray will win it comfortably - he may drop a set, but I doubt even that.

Simon Reed / Eurosport

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  1. I am revisiting this article again after US open. ­ Every sentence from this article makes zero sense. Mr.­ Reed from what I know watches a lot of tennis, as he is­ a commentator on Eurosport. Yet his knowledge on­ tennis is so poor that whatever he wrote in his blog­ was wrong and simply laughable. He wrote another­ article about prediction of women US open champion only­ when the tournament had reached the quaterfinal stage;­ and he named 3 players who could potentialy win. Well­ anyone could include Kim and Serena by that stage so­ that article is utterly pointless.
    I just really think­ that it is an insult to the readers of the yahoo sport­ webpage that a person with no tennis knowledge can­ bullshxt some articles and pretend to be an expert. ­ Those who do not follow tennis and read the articles­ will be mislead and think Andy Murray is the best thing­ happen on Earth since Jesus and Federer's career is­ finished 18 months ago when he lost the 2008 Wimbledon­ title.

    From wallace tan, on Thu 17 Sep 3:54AM

  2. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA idiot

    From Daphne, on Sat 4 Jul 1:29PM

  3. "I think Murray will win it comfortably - he may­ drop a set, but I doubt even that."

    Go find­ another job.....tennis is not for­ you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From ucm_edu, on Fri 3 Jul 8:23PM

  4. One wrong Simon, Murray is next. I don't get it why­ do you still make predictions when you see the weather­ forecast has more chances to get it right than you do.

    From Razvan, on Fri 3 Jul 3:19PM

  5. we're talking about a guy who was nearly unbeatable­ in last 6 years. eh was the 5Th cons. time winner, and­ the last time he lost was a 5 setter and 5 hour game.­ so i believe if you want to beat this guy, you have to­ summon the souls of sampras, borg, laver's­ soul's all together...

    From s?k?lhan, on Thu 2 Jul 9:57PM

  6. Haas will be fortunate to get a set here,i expect­ straight sets for Roger,he wants this title back.Haas­ has a nice game and will mix it up nicely,but he will­ feel the pressure of trying to get into his first­ Wimbledon final,it could be his last chance so he will­ feel it.Rogers serving has been on an entirely­ different level,if he continues in this vein,he should­ coast.The modern version of serve and volley is now big­ serve and then booming ground strokes into the­ space,the accuracy of the the Federer serve will give­ him easy pickings.A five setter is what the public­ wants,but it will be over in 3,Feds on a mission.

    From carlos480bc, on Thu 2 Jul 9:50PM

  7. c'mon reed, you can do better than that::D

    From s?k?lhan, on Thu 2 Jul 9:50PM

  8. Personally I don't think Simon Reed shoulds be­ taken seriously. Yesterday he tipped serena to win­ Wimbledon. She won a great match today, but only­ because her opponent bottled it. To me Venus should­ clearly be favourite. How did Mr. Reed get a job on­ here?

    From LD, on Thu 2 Jul 8:45PM

  9. oh i mean " this is killing me"­ scenario"....

    From Ray V, on Thu 2 Jul 8:44PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Fedex is so sensitive and has a fragile emotions. His­ popularity in wimby is surely playing in his mind and­ that helps him play comfortably with minimal pressure.­ But this will be the thing that will make his fans and­ his team wary and worry about. If the crowd will­ conspire with Tommy Haas, im afraid that Fed will flood­ the vast green of the wimbledon when he succumbs to the­ pressure. We might see again the "this is very­ painfull" scenario. Tommy Haas a chance indeed.

    From Ray V, on Thu 2 Jul 8:37PM

  11. When I checked the odds on Hass against Fed he was 5/1.­ Im afraid I wouldn't put money on him unless he was­ 20/1 and then it would only be 50p. Anythings possible­ I suppose but in this case extremely unlikely

    From LD, on Thu 2 Jul 8:31PM

  12. Is your time Tommy! Good luck!

    From Grigore S, on Thu 2 Jul 7:59PM

  13. @Hatsutking OK , very reasonable.. cheers !

    From Igor K, on Thu 2 Jul 7:56PM

  14. ive followed hass for years and hes playing nearly his­ best tennis ever, hes nothing to lose ,so i he could­ cause an upset on the way hes playing, good luck hass­ but it will be HARD.

    From yvonne, on Thu 2 Jul 7:52PM

  15. Yes he has a chance if he play like an experienced guy.­ But I am afraid he won't. He always sells the big­ matches. He is a big seller. He doesn't have a­ tennis mind. He hits hits and hits the balls but­ without a brain. Fed is all about brain. Roger­ Brainman. I wish them both good luck.

    From aysecarmina1, on Thu 2 Jul 7:35PM

  16. Re post 114. Thanks for sane analysis. Haas says­ he's going to go out and try to annoy Federer and­ go from there. He once had that mental edge needed but­ don't know about now. Agree that its probably a­ stretch to think of his winning a match with Federer.­ Pretty great to watch some of the former Haas talent­ though.The guy was so good! Don't think the match­ will be boring a'tall.

    From Hatsutking, on Thu 2 Jul 6:34PM

  17. if haas really wants it enough he can conceivably cause­ an upset, i agree however with others who have posted­ here saying that haas hasnt got the mental edge in very­ tight moments with players of feds caliber however­ tennis is played in the head and maybe just maybe he­ can pull off something similar to goran ivanisovic and­ throw everything he has into the match and beat fed and­ go on to grab a slam which had he not been so injured­ for so long probably would have had by now, in his day­ haas as many here have already pointed out was an­ awesome player. but realistically fed will win.

    From ralph, on Thu 2 Jul 6:04PM

  18. Of course he has a chance you stupid Reed.Who do you­­ think you are?Do you think we all wait for your­­ EXTRAORDINARY COMMENTS?Of course no!We do not give a t­­ o s s abt Mr Reed's thoughts!You may be known in­­ the UK,but nobody cares abt you in the rest of the­­ world because nobody has ever heard from you,you are a­­ perfect unknown to us.So get a life and stop thinking­­ that your reactions are relevant!It's obvious that­­ Haas has a chance,he was close to beating Roger in­­ Paris,Fed's aware of it,he knows that it will be­­ very tough.But Roddick has a chance against Murray as­­ well.So please "Mr Nobody",comment a­­ miserable sport like football but not Tennis.

    From hadjeseles, on Thu 2 Jul 5:37PM

  19. Haas's weakness is his mental strenght. He can­ matchup with Federer tennistically speaking but­ sometimes he completely loses the plot on the court. He­ can be very nervous when he feels he can win. At RG,­ even when Haas was 2 sets up, I couldn't envisage­ him winning. Had the same feeling when Fed beat­ Berdych. I think Tommy Haas is not strong enough­ mentally to win, specially on grass and against­ Federer. Shame he had to suffer those injuries cos his­ game is a beauty to watch. He would have deserved at­ least 1 grand slam final but then again, I don't­ think he would have been mentally strong enough to win­ it

    From teapsky, on Thu 2 Jul 5:19PM

  20. taxi for robson

    From stefi grafs ex, on Thu 2 Jul 4:48PM
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