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BERLIN, Feb 6: Germany’s Tommy Haas celebrated his first ATP Tour victory in 17 months at Delray Beach on Sunday and immediately vowed to carry on working hard to make the most out of the final years of an injury-plagued career.
The 27-year-old Haas defeated reigning champion Xavier Malisse 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) in the 360,000 dollar tournament to pick up his eighth ATP title and move up to 29 in the Tour rankings.
It was his first ATP final victory since July 18, 2004, when he defeated compatriot Nicolas Kiefer in Los Angeles, and his 11th win out of 13 this season.
Haas knows all about injuries and feared persistent problems with his shoulder could end his career prematurely.
In May 2002 the German reached No. 2 in the world rankings but then the shoulder problems surfaced and he missed the entire 2003 season after undergoing surgery.
But the injuries appear to have cleared up and new coach Thomas Hogstedt has Haas in top shape.
Haas has tasted just two defeats in his 13 outings with Swiss World No. 1 Federer beating him on both occasions.
A place in the Masters Cup, where the top eight players in the world compete against one another, is the new target for Haas and maybe then he will have the chance to gain revenge over Federer.
ZAGREB (Croatia): Top seed Ivan Ljubicic clinched his second title of the season and fifth of his career when he beat Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek 6-3, 6-4 to win the Zagreb tournament on Sunday.
The Croatian, who led his country to a historic Davis Cup win last year, broke Koubek in the eighth game of the first set and third game in the second to create the platform for victory.
Ljubicic now has a 2006 record which reads just one defeat — against Marcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
His first title of the year came in Chennai, India in January.
Pattaya Open
PATTAYA (Thailand): Results from the Pattaya Open:
First round: Shahar Peer (ISR) bt So-Jung Kim (KOR) 6-2, 6-4; Aiko Nakamura (JPN) bt Kaia Kanepi (EST) 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-3; Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) bt Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 6-4, 6-3; Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (ESP) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Emma Laine (FIN) bt Zi Yan (CHN) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4; Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) bt Shinobu Asagoe (JPN) 6-3, 6-2; Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) bt Rika Fujiwara (JPN) 6-1, 6-2.—AFP
