For Haas, Persistence Finally Pays Off
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Thursday, July 2, 2009
WIMBLEDON, England, July 1 -- The list is long.
And at 31, Tommy Haas has little use for revisiting the injuries and episodes of bad luck that have interrupted a tennis career so full of promise.
It started with a broken right ankle in 1995, followed by a broken left ankle in 1996. Then, a back ailment; rotator-cuff surgery, followed by a second shoulder surgery; a torn stomach muscle that forced him to pull out of Wimbledon in 2007. And it goes on.
"I don't live too much in the past," Haas said Wednesday, after earning his improbable spot among Wimbledon's semifinalists by defeating the world's fourth-ranked player, Novak Djokovic, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-3. "Whatever happens, happens for a reason, I believe."
Most players would have retired long ago if dealt similar misfortune.
Haas, a German native who has trained in the United States since age 13, says he never considered it. Instead he kept training, insistent upon rehabilitating a body that suggested in so many ways, on so many occasions, that it wasn't built for the pounding of the professional tennis tour.
Wednesday brought his reward.
"These are the moments, you know," said Haas, asked why the struggles have been worth it. "Playing Djokovic -- one of the best players in the world -- on Court 1 at Wimbledon. These are the moments. Playing at the U.S. Open. Playing the big stages. This is why you go and do rehab or you train hard. You push yourself even more to try to get to these occasions and follow your dreams as a kid."
The critical juncture in Wednesday's quarterfinal against Djokovic came in the second-set tiebreak with the Serb leading 6-3, which gave him two set points.
"I actually yelled at myself, 'Wake up! This is a great chance for you!' " Haas recalled.
The internal outburst worked. Haas proceeded to win the next five points and the set.
But few, of course, will give the 34th-ranked Haas much chance against his next opponent, five-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, even though Haas nearly bounced the Swiss champion in the fourth round of the French Open last month.
