STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Maagang mapapalaban si Tommy Haas kay Roger Federer, habang nasibak sina seeded player Gilles Simon at Viktor Troicki sa Stuttgart Open nitong Martes (Miyerkules sa Manila).
Ginapi ng 39-anyos na si Haas, naglaro sa kayang huling sabak sa grass-court tournament, si Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 sa first-round para maisaayos ang duwelo kay Federer, may hawak ng 10 titulo sa grass court.
“I’m really looking forward to playing the next game against one of my closest friends,” sambit ni Haas. “We had many great battles in the past. He is the best player on grass in history. I’ll definitely need to play better to have a chance. But you never know what can happen.”
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“There are no more breaks now. I’ve had enough breaks. I’m a practice world champion now and that’s not who I want to be. I want to be a champ on the match courts. So I’m going to be playing a regular schedule for the second part of the season,” aniya.
Nasilat naman ni Feliciano Lopez ng Spain si seventh-seeded Simon 6-3, 6-3, habang nagapi ni Benoit Paire ng France ang eighth-seeded na si Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-4.
Umabante naman ang German qualifiers na sina Peter Gojowczyk at Yannick Hanfmann, gayundin ang kababayang si Philipp Kohlschreiber kontra Marcos Baghdatis (6-1 retired).
