Germany’s Tommy Haas, ranked 19th in the world, posted his first top-10 victory in more than a year on Thursday after eliminating world number three Stanislas Wawrinka 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 at the Rome Masters 2014 tournament. His reward is a quarterfinal berth at this ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
“You have to be focused and line up the ball really well. You have to be mentally ready before you come in, then when you hit the shot you have to have the right footwork and know which side to cover. These guys are so fast these days and they have so much power. They can pass you from anywhere,” Haas told SkySports.
“So it’s very hectic, trying to play this type of game, but it’s important, especially for me. I don’t want to be the guy playing every other rally 20 shots back and forth. I don’t have the stamina for that too much anymore. I have to mix it up and I’m really happy that I did that. That was the game plan. It doesn’t always happen as well as it did today, so I’m really excited about that.”
Up next for the Hamburg native is Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria after the latter upset sixth-ranked Tomas Berdych on Thursday.
