Haas wins Stuttgart opener
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former world No. 2 Tommy Haas was a come-from-behind winner Tuesday at the Mercedes Cup tennis event.
The eighth-seeded long-time German crowd favorite overcame Russian Igor Andreev 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 on the red clay at TC Weissenhof. Haas was the Stuttgart runner-up back in 1999.
The 34-year-old Haas was a surprise grass-court titlist in Halle here in Germany last month, stunning Wimbledon champ Roger Federer in the finale.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tuesday upsets came when Czech Lukas Rosol smacked 12 aces and drove out fifth-seeded Dutchman Robin Haase 6-4, 7-5 and Germany's own Cedrik-Marcel Stebe knocked out seventh-seeded Pole Lukasz Kubot 6-2, 0-6, 6-3. Rosol shocked the great Rafael Nadal in a second-round match at Wimbledon two weeks ago.
Additional German wins came for Tobias Kamke and Bjorn Phau, as Kamke defeated Italian Flavio Cipolla 6-3, 6-4 and Phau topped Austrian Martin Fischer 6-3, 6-3.
Other opening-round winners were Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Benoit Paire, Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, and Slovakian qualifier Pavol Cervenak. Chardy, who titled here in 2009, beat German Julian Reister 6-2, 6-4.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In some second-round action here on Wednesday, top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia will face Belgian Steve Darcis and fourth-seeded Pablo Andujar will battle fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Andujar was last year's Stuttgart runner-up to compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero, who played in Umag this week.