Haas Aims For Hamburg Title as Roddick Edges Isner in Atlanta

By Erik Gudris

(July 21, 2012) -- Once again Germany is becoming a happy hunting ground for 34-year-old Tommy Haas who finds himself in another final on home soil against another surprise opponent.

Taking on Marin Cilic at the bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships in Hamburg, Haas endured a close first set that ended with Haas winning the tiebreak nine points to seven. After that, Haas had all the answers as he raced away with the second set to earn a 7-6(7), 6-0 victory.

Haas will be aiming to be the first German champion of the event since Michael Stich won in 1993. Haas will meet Juan Monaco who reached his second straight final this month after he took out top seed Nicolas Almagro 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

"Tommy is an old player but very experienced and he will be the hero of the crowd," said Monaco after his match to ATP.com. "So, it’s going to be a difficult match."

Bellucci Faces Off Against Tipsarevic in Gstaad Finals

Thomaz Bellucci, ranked No. 61 in the world, and Grigor Dimitrov, ranked No. 60, may be right next to each other in the rankings, but it was the Brazilian who separated himself to reach the finals once again at the Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad.

Bellucci managed to win the first set in a tiebreaker before rain halted play for nearly an hour. When the match resumed, the second set also went into a decider with Bellucci eventual holding five match points at 6-2. Dimitrov closed the gap to 6-5 but Bellucci finally prevailed to win 7-6(3), 7-6(5).

Waiting for Bellucci will be top seed Janko Tipsarevic who is hoping to win his second straight title of the month after winning last week in Stuttgart. Tipsarevic advanced to the finals with a 7-6(10), 6-3 win over France's Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Roddick Edges Isner to Reach Atlanta Finals

In a highly anticipated battle of two Americans, No. 1 seed John Isner took on No. 4 seed Andy Roddick in the semis of the BB&T Atlanta Open. In a match featuring two of the biggest servers in the game, it was Roddick who struggled early in the first set before a forty-minute rain delay appeared to settle the former U.S. Open champion just enough for him to claim the set 6-4.

In the second set, Isner did what he does best and that was serve big and serve well. Isner hit a 140 mph ace in one game and later hit four back-to-back aces to close out another game. But Roddick stayed right with Isner in his own service games and never faced a break point. The set climaxed into a tiebreak that saw Isner take an early break lead and never let go to force a final set.

Both men stayed level in the decider until at 3-all, Roddick earned a 15-40 lead on what looked like a tiring Isner. Isner saved those break points and fought off two more against him in a wild game that saw Isner called for a foot fault at one moment and Roddick, angry after missing a return, toss his racquet all the way to the net posts. Isner finally held for 4-all.

Roddick held for 5-4 to force Isner to serve to stay in the match. A series of missed first serves and forehands from Isner allowed Roddick to open another 15-40 lead and with it gave Roddick two match points. Isner saved the first with an ace, his 26th of the match, but on the second match point Isner hit a backhand volley wide giving Roddick a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 win.

Roddick will face in the finals Gilles Muller who easily beat No. 8 seed Go Soeda in the earlier semi 6-4, 6-3.

(Photo Credit: Reuters