Google News Tommy Haas recounts back-to-back wins over Novak Djokovic at 2009 Halle, Wimbledon
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 1784
Tommy Haas revealed he used certain information to his advantage when he defeated Novak Djokovic twice on the grass during the 2009 season. In the 2009 Halle final, home favorite Haas upset Djokovic in three sets 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-1 to win his first grass title.
A few weeks later, Haas upset Djokovic again, this time beating the Serb in the Wimbledon quarterfinal 7-5 7-6 (6) 4-6 6-3. Going into the Halle final, Haas knew that the night before Djokovic had to stay up late due to certain tournament responsibilities.
When they met again at Wimbledon, Haas was full of confidence that he could beat Djokovic again.
Haas on beating Djokovic twice on the grass in 2009
“I think in Halle before the finals, from my understanding, there's always a great fun event after the semis where you know they always had like a little bit of a show, a concert going on that night.
And the two finalists would have a little speech to give, a little Q&A on stage. And from my understanding, I heard that Novak was out up until about maybe 3 or 3:30 in the morning knowing that he has to play a final the next day.
And maybe I took that little bit to my advantage. I was playing some really good tennis and the grass courts in Halle also felt a little bit different. You would get away with like some stabbing volleys that are not great and some bad bounces here and there and so the movements sometimes you couldn't really much with that all the time.
Typical kind of like grass for tennis in the old days. I was obviously feeling confident. I think that helped me when I played him in the quarters at Wimbledon. Because I felt like, ‘okay, I just beat him, if I can kind of have that same mentality, that same attacking mode of tennis.'
That was my mentality going into that match and it worked out well. And I kinda got under his skin a little bit, jumping on top of it and playing aggressive, chipping and charging a little bit and that was a good strategy,” Haas said on the Court-Side with Beilinson Tennis podcast, via Sportskeeda.
In the end, Haas and Djokovic met nine times - with the Serb winning six of those nine meetings. At 2013 Wimbledon - which was the last time that Haas and Djokovic met - the two met on the grass for the third time and this time it was the Serb who ended on the winning side.
