The 39-year-old Haas advanced past Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 yesterday to get another chance at Federer, the top seed who received a first-round bye.
“I felt I served well… we both struggled a little with the returns. We used our chances when we got them. The key part to winning the match was getting that one more break point than my opponent. I’m obviously very pleased and anything can happen on grass,” said Haas, who converted two of three break points.
The 35-year-old Federer leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 13-3 but they haven’t played in more than three years, since the 2014 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Haas last beat Federer during the final of the 2012 Gerry Weber Open in Halle for his second grass-court crown. He also won Halle in 2009.
“We have known each other for a very long time,” Haas said of Federer. “We started to get closer around the time when my fiancee and his wife became friendlier.
“Then we had kids and started to hang out much more. We used to have the same agent, Tony Godsick, who is a very close friend of mine, so it was always an easy connection. (Federer) is a first-class guy. I have great times with him and I am happy to call him my friend.”
Haas, who plans to retire after this season, is making his seventh and final appearance in Stuttgart. He also advanced to the second round in 2015, the first year the tournament had transitioned from clay to grass.
Medvedev leads four #NextGenATP into Den Bosch
Four #NextGenATP players found their feet early on the grass at the Ricoh Open as they surged into the second round on yesterday in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
Qualifier Daniil Medvedev edged sixth seed and home favourite Robin Haase 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 in two hours and 18 minutes, saving 12 of the 13 break points he faced.
The 21-year-old Russian, who reached his first ATP World Tour final in Chennai at the start of the year, claimed just the second tour-level grass-court win of his
career.
Medvedev set a clash with fellow Next Gen ATP Finals hopeful Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The Australian, who is working his way back from a lengthy injury layoff, was a 6-4, 7-5 winner over Mikhail Youzhny.
The 21-year-old Kokkinakis struck 16 aces as he claimed the first win of his comeback, following first-round exits in Lyon (l. to Istomin) and Roland Garros (l. to Nishikori).
“It was very tough (to close it out),” said Kokkinakis.
“I didn’t get off to a great start, but then came back and played pretty well. I was up 6-2, 4-2 and serving really well, but I knew it was going to be tough to keep serving that well the whole match.
“He really started playing a lot better at the back end of the second set. I got a bit tighter for sure. I hadn’t served out a match in a long time. It was good to get those nerves out the way.
“It feels great to be competing again, there’s only so long you can practise for. It’s so frustrating being on the practice court for ages. Physically I’m not 100 per cent, still got some things I need to sort out with my body. I’m trying to manage it while I’m playing.
That’s the tough part. I’m trying to get the matches in and that workload into my body.”
Like Medvedev, Ernesto Escobedo earned the second grass-court win of his career as he defeated lucky loser Jason Jung 6-4, 6-2 in 64 minutes.
The 20-year-old American, a semi-finalist in Houston in April (l. to Bellucci), goes on to face Aljaz Bedene.
Nadal first to qualify for ATP World Tour Finals
Rafael Nadal has become the first player to book his place at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London in November after the Spaniard won a record 10th French Open title in Paris on Sunday. Nadal has claimed four titles on the tour this year, winning 46 matches and losing just six in a stellar 2017. “I’ve had a great season so far and I am happy to have already qualified for London,” the Spaniard told the ATP website. “I could not play last year because of injury so I look forward to returning in November.”
Nadal has never won the event, but finished runner-up in 2010 and 2013, losing out to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, respectively. The ATP World Tour Finals, which features the world’s top eight singles players and top eight doubles pairs, will be held at London’s O2 Arena from November 12-19. Federer is next in line to qualify for the event, for which he is a near certainty after winning the Australian Open earlier this year. The Swiss will return to action in Stuttgart this week after sitting out the entire claycourt season to prepare for Wimbledon. Young Austrian Dominic Thiem is third in the ATP race to London, followed by Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, Djokovic, world number one Andy Murray, and Belgium’s David Goffin.