It All Works Out for Germans

If Tommy Haas wins the Mercedes-Benz Cup today, he most certainly will have done so the old-fashioned way.

Especially after the way he’s earned a berth in the final.

Haas outlasted Frenchman Cyril Saulnier, 7-5, 7-5, in a grueling two-hour semifinal Saturday at the Los Angeles tennis center and will play the final today against fellow German Nicolas Kiefer, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 winner over upstart American Jeff Morrison.

It will be the first all-German final on the ATP tour since 1994 in Sun City, South Africa, but Haas was more concerned about getting some rest and a meal.

His match, played on a hot afternoon, tested physical endurance as much as tennis skills and mental stamina as much as court smarts.

The points were filled with long baseline rallies, each player matching the other shot for shot, and 10 of the 24 games went to deuce.

All this in a match that began at 3 p.m., less than 17 hours after Haas had defeated top-seeded Andre Agassi in an equally taxing three-set quarterfinal Friday night. Haas survived two tiebreakers in that match, which lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours and ended after 10 p.m.

“I knew I had to play pretty much on the same level as I did against Andre,” Haas said. “I didn’t have time to rest but that’s not something you think about when you step on the court. You just try and go out there and win and that’s basically all you do. I’m just happy it went my way.”

Agassi was the last seeded player remaining in the tournament before Haas knocked him out. Then on Saturday, the 34-year-old Agassi, citing a need for rest, withdrew from the RCA Championships, which start Monday in Indianapolis.

Win or lose today, Haas has earned a degree of respect for coming back from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for 16 months. In March 2002, Haas reached No. 2 in the world after making the semifinals at the Australian Open.

In June 2002, his parents were involved in a motorcycle accident and his father, Peter, nearly died. Haas played the rest of that season with a heavy heart and also a hurting shoulder.

In December, he had surgery to repair his rotator cuff. He had a second surgery on the shoulder in July 2003, and did not return to the tour until March.

He added his sixth career title in April when he defeated Andy Roddick in the final of the U.S. Clay Court championships in Houston, and his appearance in the final here signals that he has returned to his pre-surgery form.

“It helps ... for my own confidence that I’m on the right track,” Haas said. “If I play like this, I feel like I’m pretty tough to beat for anyone who is out there. For me it is very nice right now being able to play, have no pain and enjoy the moment.”

His best moments Saturday came on break points. He converted only two of them, but they were both on set points. Saulnier saved a set point in the first with a solid cross-court backhand, but two points later hit a backhand into the net and Haas won.

In the final game of the match, Haas rallied from 0-30 when Saulnier made four consecutive errors, double faulting on match point.

Haas saved all eight break points he faced, including four after Saulnier had led, 40-0, in the fifth game of the first set.

“I was frustrated,” said Saulnier, who said was worn out after playing in the semifinals for the second consecutive week and two tiebreakers in his semifinal Friday. “Tommy played a very good match. He didn’t give me any free points.”

Haas’ countryman, Kiefer, is also trying to continue a career resurrection. He finished 1999 at No. 6 in the world, but injuries had dropped him to No. 72 by the end of 2002.

Now ranked 30th, he will play his third final this year today.

Morrison broke twice in the first set, including the final game. But Kiefer figured out the hard-serving Morrison after that.

Morrison had been broken only one time in his first three matches, but Kiefer broke him twice in the second set and twice more in the third.

Returning serve, Kiefer said, “is my strength. In the first set I couldn’t use it. He was serving just too good for me. And then I just focused a little bit more, made more returns, made him play a little bit more.”

Kiefer is 2-1 against Haas in their careers, but they haven’t played since the first round of Wimbledon in 2000. Haas won that match, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

*

At a Glance

* What: Mercedes-Benz Cup.

* Where: Los Angeles Tennis Center/UCLA.

* TV: ESPN2, 3 p.m.

* Today’s final: Tommy Haas vs. Nicolas Kiefer.