Tommy Haas - "Always something special between me and Boris Becker"
Big German tennis summit at "Kasi live" (weekdays from 6 p.m. on our Instagram channel "tennisnetnews"): Tommy Haas , formerly number two in the world, broke down his career for Christopher Kas step by step.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: May 06, 2020, 08:18 am
Tommy Haas apparently follows in the footsteps of Severin Lüthi: In terms of corona beard, however, the Swiss Davis Cup captain is still a few millimeters ahead, which the spectators were able to see for themselves at "Kasi Live" on Tuesday evening. For Haas, Germany's flagship player for years, the quarantine period is in no way new: Even after his injuries, especially after the first shoulder injury, Haas spent many weeks at home. The sport is not neglected: Haas has hit a few balls in the past few days with Sam Querrey and Justin Gimelstob, who are also based in Los Angeles. But must be much more careful in the current phase of life, because of course he can no longer rely on a physiotherapist.
With host Christopher Kas, Tommy Haas then went through the stages of his career. Their early years were marked by a meeting with Boris Becker in Hamburg when Tommy was nine years old. Back then, Haas was able to retell the glider's first Wimbledon victory in detail - he had the success against Kevin Curren in 1985 on a VHS cassette as a Christmas present.
# IMG2 #
Bjorn Borg in Lemgo
The memories of the early tournaments are still there, especially from Lemgo, actually known for the local handball players. Before Haas, Boris Becker and Steffi Graf had won there - and Björn Borg too. Haas still cannot explain how the Swedes ended up in northern Germany.
The first experiences in Nick Bollettieri's academy were almost traumatic. It started with the housing, where Haas had to share a room with several other older players. Even the food was far from the taste of Haas. So the very young Tommy Haas turned down Bollettieri's offer to stay there for five years. It only really sparked one and a half later when Haas came back to Florida with his father Peter.
Training at Bollettieri, but especially at home in Hamburg with his father, was sometimes really hard. But as a boy, he was able to quickly forget the worse experiences in the training sessions.
Haas in Indianapolis against Pete Sampras
In 1996 Haas made his wildcard debut in Indianapolis on the ATP tour, first beating Dick Norman, then Renzo Furlan, then Mark Woodforde. The quarterfinals ended against Pete Sampras, the best player in the world at the time. Nevertheless, Haas knew that he had now arrived in professional tennis. Qualifying for the US Open a few weeks later was just another confirmation.
There Haas competed in round one against Michael Stich - one of his idols. And even won a sentence. Haas always liked him a lot, says Haas, also because of the personal proximity in Hamburg. However, the young Haas always met with the greatest admiration from Stich's great rival: "There was always something special between me and Boris Becker."