Tommy Haas tumbled out of the Mercedes Cup in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon as the top seed went down 6-2, 6-4 to Fabio Fognini in just one hour and 15 minutes. Fognini held all nine of his service games to book a spot in the last four alongside Grigor Dimitrov.
Haas, who earned a first-round bye before holding off Ernests Gulbis in three sets, could not capitalize on his chances in this one. The 35-year-old missed all five of his break-point opportunities, so two donations of his own serve in the opening set and one more in the second sealed his fate.
All was not lost, however, for the Stuttgart faithful. Another German hope, No. 2 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, defeated Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4 later in the day. Monfils double-faulted seven times without firing a single ace and he was broken on four occasions. Kohlschreiber struck three aces and he never double-faulted while beating Monfils for just the second time in 10 tries.
“I was shocked before the match when I heard that I had a 1-8 record against Gael,” Kohlschreiber said. “But I changed the tactics to play a little more aggressive. I had a good start in both sets, so I am happy with the performance. It is the first time that I reached the semifinals here.”
Next up for Kohlschreiber is Victor Hanescu, who surprised No. 4 seed Benoit Paire in straight sets.
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