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Haas retains title with straight sets victory

Tommy Haas takes aim on a backhand to Andy Roddick in the final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sunday. PHOTO: EPA

German second seed Tommy Haas earned his second straight ATP Memphis title on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over top-seeded Andy Roddick of the US.

Haas completed his title run without facing a break point in 47 service games, and polished off Roddick in just 61 minutes.

"Something about this tournament makes me play well," said Haas, who converted five of his eight break points against Roddick and closed out the match with his own eighth ace.

Serving well

"Obviously against Andy you're never sure how it's going to go," Haas said. "He can blow you off the court or you can be in the match depending on how he serves. I think I served extremely well holding my serve and being patient from the baseline and going for the right shots at the right time."

"Everything seems to be working really well," Haas said. "He had trouble getting his first serves in the beginning of the match and I took advantage of that. That was key."

The 28-year-old German, who also won in Memphis in 1999, joined Jimmy Connors -- now Roddick's coach -- as the only players to win at least three Memphis titles.

Haas won his 11th ATP title and collected a first prize of US$156,550.

Like Haas, Roddick was competing in his third final in Memphis, where he won the title in 2002.

The American was playing in his first final since last year's US Open and remained without a title since winning the Masters Series in Cincinnati last August.

Outplayed

"He just outplayed me today. I shot myself in the foot by playing sloppy early then he's got the momentum and he went with it," said Roddick, who fell to 3-6 lifetime against Haas.

"I think if you get to 2-all, 3-all, 4-all in the first set then maybe it's different, but I donated a little bit early in that match and he completely outplayed me," he said.

"Coming in I didn't know if I was playing well enough to get to a final so it's [been] a good week. A little disappointing because the match was so one-sided today," Roddick said.

It marked the first time the top two seeds met in the Memphis final since 1987, when Stefan Edberg beat Connors.
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