Veteran Tommy Haas plays Juan Monaco for a spot in the fourth round of the US Open.
Haas returned to the circuit in May and it's been a dire few months for the German. Once one of the best hard court players in the game, he couldn't buy a win all summer and retirement seemed like a matter of time.
However a little bit of the magic has returned to his game in the surroundings of Flushing Meadows and suddenly he's on the brink of the second week. Haas has been a tad lucky with his draw, no doubt about that. Viktor Troicki lost first round and he's now facing Monaco rather than Washington champion Radek Stepanek but Haas will not be complaining.
When questioned by the media, he denied that he was surprised by his showing so far.
"I wouldn't use the word maybe surprised to be necessarily honest," Haas said. "Happy about it, that's for sure. Excited about it. Having a pretty tough surgery to come back from, it's never easy; and the hip is definitely not easy. When you get a little bit older and you haven't been around for quite some time, and to re find your game once again it's quite a challenge that I took up once again because I still feel like I've got some good tennis in me and I want to try to start playing the sport on my own terms. So to be here in the third round once again is a great feeling."
Monaco does lead 2-1 on their head-to-head and will feel he has the edge after beating Haas 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 just a couple of weeks ago in Cincinnati. However the Argentine does not have the same major experience as the former world number two. Look for Haas to battle through in four.
