Haas beats Safin, Querrey upsets Sela in LA
Tommy Haas defeated Marat Safin 7-6 6-2 and book his place in the semi-finals of the LA Tennis Open.
Haas broke Safin in the fifth and seventh games of the second set to seal victory in one hour and 49 minutes under the floodlights at the LA Tennis Center.
Haas appeared to be in early control of the opening set but was twice broken by the volatile Safin before immediately breaking back in the eighth and 12th games.
Safin squandered three set points in the 12th, twice through unforced errors, before losing the tiebreak 7-3.
“Playing against Safin is never an easy task and he’s a pretty good friend of mine,” Haas told reporters after posting his 16th win in his last 19 matches.
“The first set was kind of crazy and a little bit frustrating because I had a lot of break points which I could never convert.
“But I played a pretty good tiebreak where he gave me a few unforced errors and winning that set was obviously big,” added the German, who won his 12th ATP title in Halle last month.
“When I got that break in the second set, I felt like I was in a pretty good position and I think he mentally kind of gave in a little bit.”
Haas failed to convert five break points in the opening game of the second set before tightening his grip on the match to set up a meeting in the last four with in-form American Sam Querrey.
Querrey upset Dudi Sela 6-3 7-5 breaking his opponent once in each set.
“I served well out there and usually when I serve well I win most of the time,” a smiling Querrey said after dropping only two points on his first serve during the match.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he added, referring to a 2009 campaign featuring finals appearances in his last two events in Newport and Indianapolis.
“I would have liked to have won those two tournaments but I can’t complain about getting into the finals and so far so good here.”
Photo AP
