LOS ANGELES, July 26: Tommy Haas will bid for a Los Angeles Open title hat-trick from Monday while soon-to-retire Russian Marat Safin ticks off another tournament box in his season-long farewell to the game.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Haas will have it all to play for after his solid showing final four at the All England club.
The 31-year-old will try to back up titles here from 2004 and 2006 after losing in a first-round shock at UCLA a year ago to American Donald Young.
Haas rested after Wimbledon and has had three clear weeks to get ready for the summer hard court season.
Former world number one Safin, 29, will retire at the end of the year and has little to show for a final season.
The mercurial Russian, whose brilliance has led him to a pair of Grand Slam titles, is struggling as his motivation slumps after a decade and a half on the tour. But the eighth-seeded crowd-pleaser, who first played the event in 2001 and reached the quarter-finals last summer, may find his competitive juices again as he faces off in a Monday night exhibition against Pete Sampras, a repeat of the 2000 US Open final won by the then-newcomer Russian.
While he won’t say exactly what his new plans are for a post-tennis future, Safin knows he doesn't want to continue in the game.
“Throughout the years, you have to live with tennis 24/7. There is no way you're going to leave and for days relax and not think about it. Sooner or later you're going to think about tennis,” he complained. (Agencies)
Wimbledon semi-finalist Haas will have it all to play for after his solid showing final four at the All England club.
The 31-year-old will try to back up titles here from 2004 and 2006 after losing in a first-round shock at UCLA a year ago to American Donald Young.
Haas rested after Wimbledon and has had three clear weeks to get ready for the summer hard court season.
Former world number one Safin, 29, will retire at the end of the year and has little to show for a final season.
The mercurial Russian, whose brilliance has led him to a pair of Grand Slam titles, is struggling as his motivation slumps after a decade and a half on the tour. But the eighth-seeded crowd-pleaser, who first played the event in 2001 and reached the quarter-finals last summer, may find his competitive juices again as he faces off in a Monday night exhibition against Pete Sampras, a repeat of the 2000 US Open final won by the then-newcomer Russian.
While he won’t say exactly what his new plans are for a post-tennis future, Safin knows he doesn't want to continue in the game.
“Throughout the years, you have to live with tennis 24/7. There is no way you're going to leave and for days relax and not think about it. Sooner or later you're going to think about tennis,” he complained. (Agencies)
