Tennis: Tommy Haas his day in the sun
Sunday, 7 January 2001 09:17German Tommy Haas swept aside Chilean Nicolas Massu in the men's final of the Australian Hard-Court Championship in Adelaide. Haas, the tournament fifth seed currently ranked 23 in the world, was in control throughout his 6-3 6-1 victory in 83 minutes at Memorial Drive. It was the 22-year-old's second ATP Tour triumph and he said it indicated his drive for success in the Australian Open later this month is on track.
Haas said, "Definitely it will help, obviously winning some matches now gives me some confidence and winning a title is very important to me. It has started off good so far, this year, and we will see what happens in the next few weeks." Haas battled back stiffness throughout the final but the ailment was not obvious, particularly with a blistering start in which he delivered four consecutive aces. That set the tone for the remainder of the one-sided contest - but Haas praised Massu's performances this week. "He has had a great week," he said. "I don't think his best surface is actually hardcourt. I think he's going to be a very good player this year on clay, he's fit and plays a lot of spin but he had difficulty with his first serve today."
Massu struggled to find consistency with his serve and served six double-faults, five coming in the latter stages of the second set. Not once did the Chilean hold a break point against Haas' serve, while the German had a dozen, emphasising the gulf between the two players. The victory climaxed a great week for Haas, silver medallist at the Sydney Olympics. He defeated three Australians on his way to the final - following a first round win against Luke Smith with the scalps of top seed Lleyton Hewitt and Jason Stoltenberg.
Filed by Pat Nugent
