Germany’s Tommy Haas added more points to his ATP Race to London haul after reaching the final of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna via a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 win over Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic. Haas has a chance to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals as he narrows down the gap on the 11th-placer Milos Raonic of Canada (Raonic lost in the If Stockholm Open quarterfinals and has pulled out of the Swiss Indoors Basel due to personal reasons).
“There’s still a chance, but obviously I will have to play extremely well next week and also in Paris, maybe even win Paris,” said Haas. “I’ll give it my best try. Nothing’s impossible. I’d just like to play some good tennis for the remainder of the season.”
Haas is a former champion in Vienna, having secured the title in 2001 and was a runner-up in 2000.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling,” said Haas. “A long time ago I was watching this tournament on TV. I played here for the first time back in 1997, played the final here for the first time in 2000 and won it in 2001. Being back in the final in 2013 is obviously a great feeling.”
“I knew he was going to be a tough opponent today. Rosol is the kind of player, when he gets some confidence, he’s very tough, as he’s shown over the years. It came down to a few points here and there. It couldn’t have been any closer. I played a really good tie-break and he gave me a few unforced errors.”
Haas will next face Robin Haase of Netherlands. Haase upset top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-5, 7-6. A title win in Vienna would have made Tsonga’s chances of qualifying for London a lot stronger as he would have swept past Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka in the standings.
“It’s going to be our first official meeting,” Haase said. “It’s going to be an interesting match. I have to play my best game to beat him. He’s a tough guy to play and he’s a great competitor.”
