Federer has no weaknesses - Haas

Tommy Haas plays a backhand volley in his semi-final match against Roger Federer. Tommy Haas has bad news for whoever tries to get between Roger Federer and a sixth Wimbledon title this Sunday. He took a good close-up look - for two hours and two minutes on Centre Court - and he just could not spot any weaknesses in the Swiss superstar's game. Haas, speaking after Federer had handed him a straight sets beating in his first Wimbledon semi-final at the age of 31, said: “I think he moves such smooth ways and has such good defensive play. The slice bites a lot. When you think sometimes you might get a relatively easy volley, he kind of either dinks it in front of you, or he made two spectacular lobs over my head at important points." Haas was by no means disappointed with his performance today and was particularly happy with his serving. He admitted he was perhaps going for the ball a little too much and not being aggressive enough in following up points but was "overall pretty happy". The stumbling block was Federer – the five-time champion. “There aren’t really any weaknesses,” the German reiterated of the Swiss’s game. “I think sometimes maybe if he feels a little bit pressure or gets a little bit tight. Maybe sometimes he can make some unforced errors, especially against those types of players that move really well themselves and keep the ball in play mostly than being very aggressive, such like Andy Murray or Nadal. But I’m not that type of player.” So which of the Andys contesting their semi-final as Haas talked would give Federer a run for his money? “Andy Roddick is playing some of his best tennis that I’ve seen,” the German said. “Playing extremely well, serving well. But I wouldn’t give him really a chance to beat Roger in the final. Maybe take a set. That’s my opinion. “Andy Murray - if he can play extremely well - I think would give him more trouble because of the style he plays and also knowing that he has beaten him a lot of times in the past.” However, having just tried and failed to get the better of Federer, Haas was not exactly forthcoming when he was invited to offer some words of wisdom for whoever attempts that mission next. “What would my advice be? I won’t be giving them any advice because I’ll be heading home tonight. They know their game."

Tommy Haas battles to stay in his semi-final match against Roger Federer.

Federer flies into seventh straight final

Federer focused Roger Federer's inexorable stride swallowed up another Wimbledon milestone as he hammered his way into a record seventh consecutive men's singles final by sweeping aside Tommy Haas of Germany 7-6 7-5 6-3 in two hours and two minutes. Federer, the five-time champion, can never have served better than he did today. He never permitted Haas even a peek at a break point, landed 75% of his first serves on target and won 89% of his first serve points. Even his second serve was lethal, gathering him an astonishing 81%. Gallantly though he fought, there was nothing Haas could do to halt the inevitable flow of this match in Federer's direction. After being turfed out of the quarter-finals by Haas, Novak Djokovic forecast that the 31-year-old was capable of surprising Federer. It did not happen, well though Haas himself served throughout. But he was embarking on mission impossible against a genius who permitted him a mere 10 points in three sets of perfection. Having arrived at Wimbledon with the Halle grass title under his belt, Haas was clearly in form and he extended Federer without ever worrying him. The opening set reached a tiebreak without even the sniff of a break point for either player, but the German faltered at this stage, gifting Federer two mini-breaks and finding himself a set down after 46 minutes. It seemed for 11 games that the second set would also needed to be resolved by a tiebreak. Federer had conjured a set point at 5-4 when Haas netted a low backhand volley, but Tommy scrambled clear of danger, only to be pitched back into trouble when he served again at 5-6. One of the Swiss's elegant cross-court forehands took him to his third set point and this time the answer was faulty, with Haas driving a forehand over the baseline. The immensity of the Haas task was evident as Federer upped the power in the third set, looking absolutely invincible on serve. If a break was to come, there was only one place for it to happen - at the Haas end - though the nature of the break was far from satisfactory. Trailing 4-3, Haas was foot-faulted on his first serve at 15-all. Clearly disturbed by this, the first such call of the match, his concentration wavered. Four break points were saved but a fifth chance for Federer proved too much as Haas followed a double fault by netting a backhand approach. It was a tame way to drop serve after all that had gone before. So Federer stepped up to serve out for the match. He did it to love, the 10th time this had happened on a day that was just about perfect for him. Centre Court - Gentlemen's Singles - Semifinals Tommy Haas GER (24) 63 5 3 Roger Federer SUI (2) 77 7 6

Day 11 Preview

There can be little doubt that many people will be hoping for a Roger Federer meeting with Andy Murray on Sunday as the preferred outcome of this afternoon's semi-finals at the 2009 Championships, which is a shame for Andy Roddick and Tommy Haas, who will also be togged out in their whites and ready to do battle - Roddick against Murray and Haas versus Federer. The swell of opinion, except perhaps in the US and Germany, will be for a final in which the five-time champion will be striving for all sorts of new records and Bonny Prince Andy will be playing the role of that perennial British sporting favourite, the upstart and underdog who could just do the business. It is Federer who seems to have come out of the past 12 days with fortune riding shotgun on his gilded coach. Lifted beyond measure by the impetus of his first French Open, and the consequent full hand of Grand Slam titles, Federer next heard that Rafael Nadal, his pesky nemesis, had been forced out by knee problems, elevating the second seed to the instant position of favourite. Now, in order to become the first man to reach seven straight Wimbledon finals since the abolition of the challenge round in 1922, he must overcome no more intimidating a hurdle than Haas, an opponent he has beaten eight times in a row. For Murray, the task is, on the face of it, a good deal more demanding. Roddick is battle-hardened when it comes to this stage of Wimbledon, this being his fourth semi-final. In 2003 he lost, and in the next two years he marched into the final only to be crunched by Federer. As he memorably remarked at the time, he threw the kitchen sink at Federer, only to have a bathtub hurled back at him. But here he is, back again with a new bride, Brookly Decker, and a fresh coach, Larry Stefanki, and playing his best tennis for a long stretch. None of this, of course, will faze Murray. Does anything, in fact, ever faze him? Despite the American's huge serve, he has had Roddick's number of late. The career statistics show Andy with a 6-2 lead, but he has won the last three, and in their only other Wimbledon clash, three years ago when Murray was still wearing his apprentice's colours, Roddick was seen off in straight sets in the third round. This was one of the results that alerted the British sporting public to the news that somebody special was on the tennis horizon after too many years. The armaments race for the second world war was just cranking up when, in 1938, Britain last paraded one of its own in a Wimbledon final. He was Henry Austin, more popularly known as Bunny, a fine player doomed to dwell forever in the shadow of Fred Perry, who had won Wimbledon three times and then gone off in 1936 to join the then-thin ranks of the professional tennis circuit. Austin lost to Don Budge, and to the end of his life was lamenting that all the public wanted to know about in his time was "Fred, Fred, Fred". Well, he did win the thing three times, Bunny. Now here comes Murray, who may do what two other British players failed to achieve in the Open era by progressing beyond the last four. Roger Taylor was a losing semi-finalist twice, in 1970 and 1973, while Tim Henman went out at that stage four times, on every occasion to the eventual champion. Still, at least Tim has a hill named in his honour. Andy, in the last four at just his fourth Wimbledon, has also got to this elevated position faster than either Taylor or Henman. It took Roger until his eighth Wimbledon, and Tim his fifth. Neither managed to land the number three ranking that Murray nailed down in May. On that particular front, things could get even better if we allow our enthusiasm to have its head. Should he get to the final and win it, Murray will move ahead of Federer into the number two spot, no matter what the Swiss does. And he would also be just five ranking points adrift of the number one, Nadal. But enough of that. First Murray must see off Roddick, who offered a fine example of his tenacity by overcoming Lleyton Hewitt in five sets on Wednesday evening (his first five-setter of the year) and will be confident of doing the same to Murray, whatever the distance - three, four or five sets. However, having won at the Queen's last month Murray is on a 10-match streak on grass and his form on Centre Court these past dozen days has ranged from impressive to awesome. Many people feel it is Murray's destiny to win in the semi-finals and again on Sunday. Perhaps Andy shares that feeling, but he is already too savvy to spout such stuff. He is prepared only to admit to being "quietly confident". Like Murray, Haas is a first-time Wimbledon semi-finalist and it will hardly improve his odds that Federer is appearing today in a record 21st consecutive Grand Slam semi-final. There is, however, a worm of worry for the Swiss Alp. The last time he faced Haas, in the fourth round at Roland Garros a few weeks back, Federer went two sets behind before hitting his stride and capturing the last three sets at a cost of six games. They have never met at Wimbledon, though it should have happened in the fourth round two years ago until the US-based German had to concede a walkover because of a torn stomach muscle. Novak Djokovic, the fourth seed who went out to Haas in the quarter-finals, warns that, having won the grass tournament in Halle, Tommy - like Murray on a 10-game grass streak - is "a perfect player for this surface" and adds: "Tommy hasn't lost this year on this surface, so of course he has a chance if he serves well." That opinion may be greeted with a smile by the Federer camp, but Roger himself certainly will not assume his place in Sunday's final is as good as booked. That said, he will have his eye on the main prize - the chance of passing Pete Sampras' record by winning his 15th Grand Slam, plus the opportunity to reclaim the number one spot from Nadal after having held it for a record 237 weeks. Tommy and his back-to-front cap will be at full stretch to contain the super-confident Federer.

Evergreen Haas goes back to future

Tommy Haas on his way to victory over Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. When you are a tennis player in your 30s, it is fair to say that - in career terms - you have more years behind you than ahead of you. German Tommy Haas, a Wimbledon semi-finalist for the first time at the age of 31, is one of that special breed who is determined never to dwell on his past. Instead, he prefers to always look to the future. And following his stunning quarter-final win over Novak Djokovic, that includes a Centre Court showdown against Swiss master Roger Federer on Friday. Haas has 10 Wimbledons in his past, stretching back to 1997. But until this year, there had been one solitary fourth round appearance and a ton of trials and tribulations. Some might say it is about time luck smiled down on the hardworking German who has had his fair share of bad luck over the years. And in his post-match press conference, as the world’s media explored the possibility of another German joining Steffi Graf, Boris Becker and Michael Stich in the Wimbledon record books, Haas felt obliged to do what he likes least - to reflect on his own previous misadventures here. He said: “If you just look through the years of me playing Wimbledon, there is a lot of bad luck involved. I have lost a lot of tight ones. “The year when I was three in the world [2002], I would have been seeded high, [but] my parents had a really bad motorcycle accident so I skipped that year. “Then when I had a pretty good draw where I felt I could get far, I stepped on a ball in the warm-up. “I lost three tiebreaks against Wayne Arthurs in the third round one year. Lost 9-7 in the fifth set one time to Marc Rosset in the third round.” However, Haas quickly asserts that is history and “all in the past”. In fact, he admits that “deep down”, he feels there is time for him to achieve something special here. “It better come up soon, because I’m not getting any younger,” he quipped. “I always felt like on the grass maybe something is still left there for me.” His incredible form on turf began in Halle in June where he defeated Novak Djokovic to take his first title on grass. Now Haas is enjoying a huge confidence boost and relishing every moment. “This is why you go and do rehab or you train hard. You push yourself even more to try to get to these occasions and follow your dreams as a kid. Tennis players have a short career, some shorter than others. At 33, 34 or 35 you might be done. Then you have a whole life left. You want to be able to look back and say ‘Hey, I played the sport that I love as long as I could and I’ve tried my best’. You look back at what you have accomplished and you want to be proud of yourself.” Now only one opponent stands between Haas and his first Grand Slam final. The problem is that man is Roger Federer and the German is under no illusions about how hard it will be to overcome the man who has been in the last six finals here. In fact, it was Federer who ended Haas’s French Open this year in an unforgettable five-set battle, in which the German was five points from securing a straight sets win. Then on a fateful break point opportunity, he was stunned by a superb Federer forehand, which sparked a turnaround in fortunes. Lesser men might be distraught at having to face the same opponent in the next Grand Slam. Certainly Robin Soderling has shown this fortnight that it is far from easy to gain a quick revenge over the French Open champion. But Haas is determined not to dwell on the past, no matter how recent, and is surprisingly magnanimous about that defeat. He said: “It is in the past. It’s done. Being a friend of his and knowing how much it meant to him winning the French Open, I’m happy he made that shot." He added that he expected Federer to go down in history as the greatest player ever. So could he explain what it is about his next opponent’s game that makes it so special?

Haas dumps Djokovic out to reach semis

Tommy Haas in action during his quarter-final match against Novak Djokovic. Who said tennis was a young man’s game? Tommy Haas, the oldest man in the draw, brushed aside Novak Djokovic, the No.4 seed and the youngest man left in the tournament 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-3 in the quarter finals. Haas had waited a long time to feel this good at a major tournament. His is a career which has been badly interrupted by injuries. And when he has not been injured or recovering from injury, he has so often been felled by his nerves. But age can do wonders for a chap and, now that he is 31, Haas has learned the value of fitness, training and preparation. Reunited with his old coach, Thomas Hogstedt, he came within a whisker of beating Roger Federer at the French Open, then beat Djokovic on grass in the Halle final and has been growing in confidence round by round here at Wimbledon. As he took on Djokovic, the German took a distinctly old-fashioned approach to playing on grass – he kept attacking the net. That was when he was not staying back and using his stunning backhand to unpick the Serb’s defences. Or serving like a demon to give Djokovic no chance to get into the rally. And his returns were not half bad either. Djokovic was playing in the modern way – thumping ground strokes and explosive power. He too tried his hand at the net but it is not his natural hunting ground. When he came forward, it was usually on a wing and prayer and, as he scampered netwards, he usually passed Haas’s backhand flying in the opposite direction. For the first 40 minutes, this clash of styles and generations produced an impasse – there was not a gnat’s whisker between the men and no sign of a break point. But then Haas, the man who once knew the pressures of being the world's No.2 player but now has relatively little to lose in this kind of match, applied the pressure. He backed Djokovic into a corner and, forcing the errors from him, he got the vital break of serve and made off with the first set. The second set followed much the same pattern save for the fact that Djokovic’s body language was becoming increasingly downbeat. When Haas again broke for a 6-5 lead – that trusty backhand again doing the damage – Djokovic started a loud and long rant in Serbian, which was probably just as well. It was better that no-one else knew just how frustrated he was. That was when the reality dawned on Haas that he was on the verge of wiping the floor with the world No.4 – and the nerves set in. The German dropped serve and Djokovic moved towards three set points. That was when Haas yelled at himself to wake up and, taking his own advice, he ran away with the next five points and, with them, the second set. By now, Djokovic was looking tetchy and flustered. Even taking the third set did little for his confidence and by the time he had dropped his serve to go 3-1 down in the fourth, the match was there for Haas to lose rather than Djokovic to win. The only trouble for Djokovic was that Haas had no intention of losing, not now, not at the age of 31 and on the threshold of his first Wimbledon semi-final to add to his three appearances at that stage in Australia in 2007, 2002 and back in 1999. Who said this was a young man’s game?

Jitters got to me, says Djokovic

Novak Djokovic looks cool during his quarter-final match against Tommy Haas. Novak Djokovic was left to explain another disappointing failure after his quarter-final loss to Tommy Haas. All the talk was of the Serb’s poor Grand Slam record this year: he has lost in the quarter-final of the Australian Open, where he was defending champion, the third round of the French Open, and now this. Yet away from the Slams, Djokovic, who lost his world number three ranking to Andy Murray in May, arrived at Wimbledon with a good record. In the 13 tournaments he has played this year he won two, finished runner-up in four, was a semi-finalist in three and a quarter-finalist in two. It was put to the 22-year-old Serb after the defeat to Haas that he has undergone a personality change this year and lost some of his spark. "I haven't really changed," he insisted. "It's just that there are now other players in the spotlight, like [Andy] Murray and [Juan Martin] Del Potro who have been playing really well lately and you always get more attention the more successful you are. "I have been consistent with my results this year, except in the Grand Slams, but I am still the way I am. I think the difference is a little impatience in the important moments. I get nervous a little bit more than I used to. And I guess that's probably the pressure I'm feeling. But I shouldn't." It was that nervousness, he claimed, that cost him dearly at important moments in the match against Haas. "I somehow couldn't relax in those moments, especially at 5-5 in the first two sets. I was playing very defensively and making errors that I didn't do in the rest of the match." After enjoying a tremendous run of success against German players - he won 14 straight matches - Djokovic has now lost three matches against players from that country. He was beaten by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round at Roland Garros and by Haas in the Halle final and again here. In addition to nervousness, Djokovic cited his poor return of serve as a factor in his latest loss. "Returning is one of the strength strokes in my game, but today was a real disaster. [Haas] is very aggressive, a perfect player for this surface, and this was just a day when I couldn't deal with his serve." It has been a disappointing year for Serbia after the glories of 2008, when both Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic won a Grand Slam title and Jelena Jankovic finished the season as world number one. "Everybody goes through a crisis," was how Djokovic explained it. "I can only speak for myself, but I was going through a tough period at the start of the year. Then I had a Miami final and then the whole clay court season was successful and I was happy with the way I was playing. So my game is there. I am disappointed to have lost here because I thought I was playing well and could go all the way. I wanted to do better at Wimbledon. "Today I could have won the second set, I just made some incredible unforced errors." As for Haas's chances of beating Roger Federer in Friday's semi-finals, Djokovic said: "Tommy still hasn't lost this year on this surface. He's playing really well and has nothing to lose against Roger, so of course he has a chance."

Haas puts heat on Cilic to finish job

Tommy Haas in action on No.1 Court against Marin Cilic, the match went the distance but bad light halted play towards the end of the fifth set. Germany’s Tommy Haas needed just six games in the Saturday sunshine to secure victory over Croat Marin Cilic in a topsy-turvy match, which had been left on a knife-edge when it was suspended in the twilight on Friday night. Haas eventually emerged the victor 7-5, 7-5, 1-6, 6-7 (3-7) 10-8 in a total match time of four hours and 28 minutes. Both players looked very nervous as they stepped on No.1 Court with the score locked at 6-6 in the fifth set (Click here to read the full match report). However it was experienced Haas - who, at 31, is 11 years older than his opponent - who made the vital breakthrough in the 17th game of an epic set. After four games went with just a few points lost on serve, Haas forced a 15-40 advantage when the Croat could only clip a Haas backhand which whizzed down the line. He duly snapped up the game on his first opportunity when a Cilic forehand sailed long following a powerful Haas return. Haas then staved off two immediate break-back opportunities before holding his nerve to clinch the set 10-8 when Cilic forced a backhand long. Haas said afterwards: "It was a long match, a tough battle yesterday with so many ups and downs. Mentally it drains you for sure. You're always thinking about the next round in your head but you just want to finish the job. "I was very nervous. I don't know if my experience helped pull me through in the end as in all my years i've never had a match suspended at 6-6 in the fifth set. It was dramatic." Cilic echoed Haas' comments: "I was feeling well before the match. But when I stepped inside, when we started to play points, I was a little bit nervous. I think he dealt with it a little bit better and got an edge in the end. " Court 1 - Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round Tommy Haas GER (24) 7 7 1 63 10 Marin Cilic CRO (11) 5 5 6 77 8

Tommy Haas takes a breather

Tommy Haas serves

Tommy Haas feeling low

Haas and Cilic locked in thriller

Tommy Haas gives 100% to try and win the point with a big serve against Marin Cilic. A four-hour marathon on No.1 Court was suspended in the gathering darkness at 9.33pm with Marin Cilic and Tommy Haas standing level at 5-7, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) 6-6 in the final set. By the time they were forced to give in to the failing light, both men had saved two match points in an encounter that swung unpredictably this way and that. Early on this match looked like being an unmitigated disaster for Haas, 31. The 11-year age gap between the players yawned as 20-year-old Cilic blasted away from the baseline. The German was obliged to save two break points to prevent a 0-4 scoreline. But he managed it, inching his way on to the scoreboard at 1-3. Openings were few for him, even on his own serve, and he also produced double faults at the most unwelcome moments. But he hung on and stayed in touch, although for what seemed a long time he could make no impression on the Cilic serve. Then Haas held to love for the first time for 5-3, and the one-time world number two seemed to take heart from it. Next game a netcord helped save a Cilic set point, and then suddenly a double fault from the Croatian handed his opponent a thoroughly unexpected break point. Crucially Haas got the first serve back, and in the subsequent rally Cilic put a potential winner wide. It was 5-5. Haas was gaining confidence visibly, typified by a beautifully judged lob. Meanwhile, errors were creeping into Cilic’s game at exactly the wrong time. Haas forced a break point for 6-5 with an unreturnable forehand, and not only converted it, but served out to love. Out of nowhere, it seemed, he had won the set. Haas managed to carry enough momentum with him into the second set that he avoided the disastrous opening period of the first. It was sufficiently hard work that that at 3-3 he uttered what sounded very much like an audible obscenity when fluffing a shot on Cilic’s serve, but he received no warning. A tiebreak looked inevitable until just as before, out of the blue the set turned. At 5-5 Haas found himself with a break point and controlled the rally superbly to convert it. Cilic saved three set points at 5-6 but a fourth was too much and Haas took the set. Perhaps it was finally beginning to show that Cilic – seeded for the first time this Wimbledon – came into the tournament with no grasscourt form, having lost in the first round at Queen’s. Haas, meanwhile, arrived in SW19 as the newly-crowned champion on the lawns of Halle, having overturned the odds there to defeat Novak Djokovic in the final. Yet still the pattern of this match this evening felt like a shock. But to vocal encouragement from the very visible Croatian support in the crowd, Cilic broke at the start of the third. He was five games up before Haas could stop the rot but it made no difference. Cilic sent down successive aces to capture the set 6-1. At the start of the fourth set Haas was moving stiffly, and seemed to be having discomfort in his left foot. But as far as the score was concerned he was back on track. At 5-4 on serve Haas had two separate match points, but could do nothing with either and the set went to the tiebreak. Cilic took command of it and the match moved into the fifth. By now Haas was tiring, and the 11-year age gap was beginning to show for real. Cilic broke at the first opportunity and got to 3-0 before the match turned again and Haas pegged him back to 3-3. Once again Cilic broke, and once again Haas levelled. At 5-6, in the last game of the night before play would have had to be suspended in any case, suddenly Cilic at last found a way through again to grab two separate match points, and this time Haas saved both to leave the match on a knife-edge at 6-6.