17th June, 2012
Roger Federer has lost his bid to win the Gerry Weber open title for the sixth time in Halle, Germany today, falling to German veteran player Tommy Haas in two sets.
Haas won 7-6, 6-4., to deny Federer his 75th career title.Federer had won the trophy here in 2003-2006 and also 2008.
The 34 year old Tommy Haas reached his 22nd ATP World Tour final as he battled past defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(5), 7-5 in an all-German contest.
Haas and Federer’s rivalry spans 12 years, with the first meeting taking place in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics and resulting in a straight-sets win for Haas. Since then, the German has lost 10 of their past 11 meetings.
Haas’ last ATP World Tour title came three years ago, when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the Halle final. The Hamburg native returned to the Top 100 (No. 87) in the South African Airways ATP Rankings this week after reaching the third round as a qualifier at Roland Garros (l. to Gasquet). He has a 13-6 record on the season.
Federer hinted yesterday that it would be a herculean task defeating Haas on grass as he said:
“Tommy and I share many years together on the tour and also our families are close,” said Federer. “I’m happy for him that he made it so far and beat such top players. I hoped that he’d find his way into the tournament and would have a good run. He’s very dangerous on grass. So, it won’t be an easy final for me.”
How prophetic!