Haas upsets Federer to advance in Stuttgart

Tommy Haas, a 39-year-old German, turned back the clock Wednesday when he saved a match point on his way to a 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4, second-round upset of top-seeded Roger Federer, a close friend, at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.

This was just the second loss of the year for Federer, who was playing his first grass-court event of the season and his first tournament match on any surface since beating Rafael Nadal in the finals of the Miami Open on April 2.

“I’m a little bit speechless that I beat him today. It’s been awhile since I have won back-to-back matches and to do it today against Roger is obviously one of my career highlights. It’s a very special feeling,” Haas said.

Federer had won 13 of his previous 16 matches against Haas, who had not beaten the 35-year-old Swiss star since 2012.

Federer raced through the first set in 23 minutes, and had a match point with Haas serving at 7-8 in the second-set tiebreaker. Hass had to deliver a second serve, but Federer made an error on his backhand to let the opportunity slip away.

“I thought it was a typical grass-court match today,” Federer said. “Rallies weren’t very long and it was decided on a serve there or a return here. If you don’t take your chances like I didn’t, leading a set and a break, you really only have yourself to blame at the end. You’ve got to acknowledge the fact that he was a bit better. It’s quite frustrating, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

“It wasn’t all bad, not at all. There were definitely some good moments, but I definitely was not as sharp as I was hoping to be in maybe the big moments, or the moment when I had the lead and where I feel I should have been cruising from that moment on. I definitely made some crucial mistakes and judgment errors. Tommy definitely played well when he had to.”

Haas next faces Mischa Zverev of Germany, who saved 10 of 11 break points to beat qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 7-6 (1), 6-2 in 83 minutes.

Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, a finalist in this event a year ago, also advanced, beating Steve Johnson of the United States 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (8) in two hours and 39 minutes.

Fourth-seeded Lucas Pouille of France got a significant challenge from Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, who had a match-point opportunity in the third-set tiebreaker. Pouille eventually won 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8).