Live Tennis Staff - 26 Aug 2011
Robin Haase is in semi-final action against Julien Benneteau in Friday's night session in Winston-Salem.
Haase is enjoying a superb month after winning the Kitzbuhel title a few weeks ago to reach a new career high of 42 in the rankings and that's continued this week. He took out third seed Alex Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-4 in the night session on Thursday
While Haase is still yet to drop a set it's been a very long week for Benneteau who had to come through the qualifying rounds at the weekend so he's already played seven matches so far. The 29 year old saw off ninth seed Sergiy Stakhovsky 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-2 in the quarters, saving two match points in the second set tiebreak.
Of course, the Frenchman has been ranked much higher in the past and he's only found himself as a qualifier in these events due to a wrist injury he sustained at last year's US Open which saw him topple down the rankings.
"I had a really bad injury last year in the US Open and it took me a long time to recover," he told the press. "Now I’m recovered 100 percent. It was a bad moment for me because I was playing maybe the best tennis of my career. But if I could do it last year, I can do it this year. Now I am fit and I don’t have any problems, so it’s just a matter of winning matches and getting back in the rankings to be able to play the 250 and 500 tournaments, to be maybe seeded in the 250, because it’s tough if you don’t."
Haase says he certainly won't be underestimating his opponent today. "I don’t see him as a qualifier," he said. "He has been 35 in the world or 40 in the world and he’s a really great player. That’s why I’m looking forward to it. He played some tough matches and I hope that’s a small advantage for me, but also he played a lot of matches on hard court and I have only three. So I hope I win but it will be a tough match."