STUTTGART, June 13, 2017

Tommy Haas will meet Stuttgart’s top seed Roger Federer in the second round of the MercedesCup after defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France 6-4, 3-6,7-5 on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old German withstood 11 aces, hitting eight of his own and broke serve two times to prevail after one hour and 52 minutes.

“I felt I served well but we both struggled a little with the returns. We used our chances when we got them. The key part to winning the match was getting that one more break point than my opponent. I’m obviously very pleased and anything can happen on grass,” said Haas.

Federer leads 13-3 in their head-to-head records. Their last meeting took place in Indian Wells three years ago with the Swiss winning in straight sets. Haas’ last win over Federer came in the 2012 Halle final on grass. The battle is going to take place on Wednesday at 3:30 pm.

“We have known each other for a very long time,” Haas said of Federer. “We started to get closer around the time when my fiancée and his wife became friendlier. Then we had kids and started to hang out much more. We used to have the same agent, Tony Godsick, who is a very close friend of mine, so it was always an easy connection. He is a first-class guy. I have great times with him and I am happy to call him my friend.”

Haas will be joined in the second round by his fellow countrymen Philipp Kohlschreiber and Peter Gojowczyk.

Kohlschreiber benefited from the retirement of Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus leading 6-1 after 34 minutes. The 33-year-old from Augsburg will next take on fifth seed Steve Johnson from the United States.

Gojowczyk, who battled through the qualifying, fought past Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, rallying 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. The World No. 146 won 85 per cent of his first service points to secure victory in one hour and 11 minutes. Next up for Gojowczyk will be Frenchman Benoit Paire, who ousted the tournament’s number eight Viktor Troicki from Serbia 6-4, 6-4.

In the final match of the day, German veteran Florian Mayer fell to Jeremy Chardy from France, losing 6-7, 6-4, 6-7 after two hours and three minutes. The 30-year-old Pau native will next face Feliciano López, who improved to 4-2 against Gilles Simon in their head-to-head series with a 6-3, 6-3 win against the seventh-seeded Frenchman.

Photo Gallery Federer & Haas at Schlossplatz in Stuttgart (photos: MercedesCup)