By Robert Martin                                             Photo Credit Daniel Huerlimann/Beelde

(August 6, 2011) In a week of firsts for Robin Haase, the 24-year-old reached his first career ATP Tour semifinal and final before taking the title in Kitzbuhel, Austria. The 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory comes at the expense of some late streaky play from Spanish veteran Albert Montanes.

A player that has overcome quite a struggle, Haase showed incredible potential in 2007 when he beat Tomas Berdych, the World No. 10 at the time, in the at the ATP Masters Series event in Canada. Another big victory for his confidence came in Chennai, when he defeated the World No. 16, Marcos Baghdatis, before falling to Marin Cilic in three sets in the quarterfinal.

A victory over Andy Murray early in 2008 looked as if it would help the Dutch player break into the top 50, but in July of 2008, ranked at 56th, a simple knee operation threaten to derail his career. After a short rehabilitation, he returned two months later to learn that the knee was not ready.

May 2009 brought about a second surgery and would prevent Haase from competing until November of that same year. During the course of this injury absence his ranking dropped from No. 56 all the way to World No. 673.

After a strong 2010 that saw Haase not only playing well, but beginning to believe in himself again, the Dutch player improved his ranking from No. 447 to No. 65. Despite the promise that he has shown, it was not until this week in Austria that he was able to break his own personal barrier and reach the semifinal of an ATP Tour event.

As most momentum players behave, Haase continued blazing through the field, first knocking out Joao Souza in the semifinal before earning his first title over Montanes. Though he did not play his best throughout the tournament, Haase took advantage of the timely mistakes, winning three of his five matches in three sets, including the final.

Both players had similar percentages, winning roughly 60 percent of points on serve, while serving around 46 percent. The difference came in the third set, where Haase captured only eight points on return, but made them count for two breaks.

The beginning of August has been kind to Haase since coming back from injury. In 2010, while ranked No. 121, he won a challenger event in San Marino, which propelled him into the top 100, a spot he has not relinquished since.