Haas a Bright Spot on Sad German Tennis Scene

Germany finally had something to celebrate Sunday when Tommy Haas capped his successful return from injury by beating Andy Roddick in straight sets in the U.S. Claycourts final at Houston.

"Haas wins Houston final - a miracle comeback," was the headline in the German daily Bild. "He finally rejoins the tennis elite." Calm down Bild, this was Houston, Texas, not Roland Garros. But at the same time a real nice start to the dirt season.

Haas missed all of 2003 after his shoulder failed to heal properly after surgery, and with subsequent injuries to Nicolas Kiefer, all he could do was watch as German tennis slid down the world ranks.

The German tennis scene was in a sad enough state last year, even before the Davis Cup team was bumped from the World Group by Belarus after sub-par performances from Rainer Schuettler and Tomas Behrend, a far cry from the days of Boris Becker and Michael Stich.

But now Haas and Kiefer are healthy, and even Schuettler, if he can turn around his horrid start to the 2004 season, could contribute to Germany once again attaining the elite World Group in the Davis Cup competition. This September Germany will play Slovakia in a World Group qualifying match, with the winner elevated once again to the World Group, and the loser sloughing away for another year in zonal competition.

The Slovaks will likely go with their favorite clay surface, which might have fazed Becker, who went his entire career without a title on the dirt, but after Haas' career-first clay title in Houston, things are looking up for the German squad.

"I was pretty close (to winning a clay title) in Stuttgart a few years ago, just two points away, so it means a lot to have my first claycourt title but even more because of what I've been through," Has said after the Houston win. "Overall the shoulder feels good."

Schuettler beat former multiple French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten in the first round this week at Monte Carlo, so the Germans will have ample ammunition to give Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty and the rest of the Slovak team a run for the World Group prize. Or for their sake, they hope so.

Vocal critics such as Becker, Stich, and the German Tennis Federation will have choice words for their boys if Germany has to spend yet another year in tennis' minor leagues on the international stage.

Richard Vach (rvach@comcast.net) is a senior writer for Tennis-X.com