German Tommy Haas swept aside Chilean Nicolas Massu in the men's final of the
Australian Hard-Court Championship in Adelaide.
Haas, the tournament fifth seed currently ranked 23 in the world, was in
control throughout his 6-3 6-1 victory in 83 minutes at Memorial Drive.
It was the 22-year-old's second ATP Tour triumph and he said it indicated his
drive for success in the Australian Open later this month is on track.
Haas said: "Definitely it will help, obviously winning some matches now gives
me some confidence and winning a title is very important to me.
"It has started off good so far, this year, and we will see what happens in
the next few weeks."
Haas battled back stiffness throughout the final but the ailment was not
obvious, particularly with a blistering start in which he delivered four
consecutive aces.
That set the tone for the remainder of the one-sided contest - but Haas
praised Massu's performances this week.
"He has had a great week," he said. "I don't think his best surface is
actually hardcourt.
"I think he's going to be a very good player this year on clay, he's fit and
plays a lot of spin but he had difficulty with his first serve today."
Massu struggled to find consistency with his serve and served six
double-faults, five coming in the latter stages of the second set.
Not once did the Chilean hold a break point against Haas' serve, while the
German had a dozen, emphasising the gulf between the two players.
The victory climaxed a great week for Haas, silver medallist at the Sydney
Olympics.
He defeated three Australians on his way to the final - following a first
round win against Luke Smith with the scalps of top seed Lleyton Hewitt and
Jason Stoltenberg.
AFP