Two days after pulling off a surprise win over Roger Federer in Stuttgart, Tommy Haas has lost to fellow German Mischa Zverev. Zverev will face Feliciano Lopez in the semifinals as the countdown to Wimbledon continues.Mischa Zverev ended the Mercedes Cup run of German compatriot Tommy Haas as the sixth seed prevailed 6-4 6-4 against the popular veteran in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Haas was making what was likely his final appearance at the Weissenhof club, where he reached the final in 1999.
The 39-year-old was fresh from an upset 48 hours earlier of top seed Roger Federer on the grass.
“By and large, it has been a nice week here,” number 302 Haas said.
Haas, the oldest player to reach an ATP quarterfinal since Jimmy Connors in 1995, added: “Actually, I’m on a good path. It’s going in the right direction. But no sportsman likes to lose.”
Zverev, who will move to a career-best 29th in the rankings, will face off in the semi-finals against Feliciano Lopez after the Spaniard hammered 19 aces and saved all nine break points he faced to upset third seed Tomas Berdych 7-6 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4.
“He’s a great grass player with a totally different game as a lefty,” Zverev said after reaching his first Stuttgart semi. “The match will be different, but we will see.”
French fourth seed Lucas Pouille held off a fightback attempt from German Philipp Kohlschreiber to earn a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 trip to the final four. Kohlschreiber finished runner-up in 2013 and a year ago against Dominic Thiem.
mds (Reuters/AFP)
