Haas Defends Title Unblemished

Haas Defends Title Unblemished

Defending champion and No. 2 seed Tommy Haas steamrolled through the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis without facing a break point in five matches, capping it off with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over top seed Andy Roddick in 61 minutes on Sunday. The 28-year-old German won the Memphis title for the third time (1999, '06) and he joins Jimmy Connors as the only players to win at least three titles at the Racquet Club of Memphis. Connors won four times (1978-79, '83-84).

Haas successfully defended an ATP title for the first time by capturing his 11th career crown in 20th final. Haas has won six straight ATP finals he's appeared in going back to his last final loss at ATP Masters Series Rome (l. to Agassi) in May 2002. He's also the first back-to-back champion in Memphis since Todd Martin in 1994-95.

"My match yesterday against Mardy Fish gave me some confidence, picking up his serve quite well and serving well myself," said Haas. "I’ve had a pretty good record lately in finals I think I’ve won my last five or six finals now."

"Obviously against Andy you’re never sure how it’s going to go . He can blow you off the court or you can be in the match depending on how he serves. I think I served extremely well holding my serve and being patient from the baseline and going for the right shots at the right time. Everything seems to be working really well. He had trouble getting his first serves in the beginning of the match and I took advantage of that. That was key."

Haas only lost seven points in nine service games and for the tournament he did not face a break point in 47 service games. The last player to win an ATP title without losing serve was Ivan Ljubicic in Vienna last October.

Haas jumped off to a quick start by breaking Roddick in the second game at 30-40 with a forehand winner. He only lost three points on his serve in the 32-minute opening set. In the second set, Haas broke in the third game at 15-40 and again in the fifth when Roddick netted a forehand volley. Haas fell behind 15-30 when serving for it but came back to hold, ending the match with his eighth ace.

Haas improved to 13-2 on the season and 26-6 in his career in Memphis while Roddick, who was looking to win his first title since ATP Masters Series Cincinnati last August, fell to 14-3 on the year and 21-5 in Memphis. Roddick won the title in Memphis in 2002 (d. Blake) and was runner-up the following year (l. to Dent).

"He just outplayed me today. I shot myself in the foot by playing sloppy early then he's got the momentum and he went with it," said Roddick, who is now 3-6 lifetime against Haas. "I think if you get to 2-all, 3-all, 4-all in the first set then maybe it's different but I donated a little bit early in that match and he completely outplayed me. Coming in I don't know if thought I was splaying well enough to get to a final so it's a good week, A little disappointing because the match was so one-sided today."

On Haas not facing a break point in the tournament, Roddick added, "It's pretty impressive. I don't know that I've seen it happen before. I've gone through a tournament without losing serve, I've had streaks of, I don't know, 100-odd games without getting broken but not without facing a break point."

"I'm going to take a couple of days off in Austin, really get some good time in practice with Jimmy in Indian Wells, It's been a pretty hectic three weeks, or even first two months of the year. I've seen my house a couple of times. Get home, kind of recharge the batteries and go into Palm Springs with a really good week of training under my belt."

It was the first No. 1 vs. 2 seed final in Memphis since 1987 when No. 1 Stefan Edberg defeated No. 2 Connors.

More than $380,000 Raised for St. Jude
Tommy Haas and Venus Williams were the 2007 tournament champions but the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was the big winner of another outstanding tournament. Through a variety of donations the Hospital received $388,600.

The tournament donated $243,033 and 2007 finalist Andy Roddick generously chipped in $56,967 of his own money to round up the total to $300,000. Additionally, Allen Morgan Jr., Chairman of Morgan Keegan & Company, and Vice Chairman of Regions Financial Company, made a $88,600 donation from the Allen Morgan Foundation. The amount equated to $100 for every ace served in every men's and women's singles and doubles match played during the tournament.