DUBAI, 3 March 2007 — Roger Federer increased his career-best winning streak to 40 by reaching the Dubai Open final with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Tommy Haas, the fifth-seeded German, yesterday.
It kept Federer on course to beat the 30-year-old all-time record of 46 wins held by Guillermo Vilas, which he could do by the end of the Masters in Indian Wells next week.
It also earned the world No. 1 the chance to regain the title he lost last year to Rafael Nadal when he takes on the in-form Mikhail Youzhny today.
However, Haas, who beat Andy Roddick to win the Memphis title on Sunday, ignored both his jetlag and the reputation of his illustrious opponent very well in a match which grew tenser and more entertaining the longer it went on.
Haas had Federer at love-40 in the sixth game of the second set, and even earned a set point when he had advantage point on Federer’s serve at 4-5 in the second set. But on all four occasions Federer came up with something special.
Haas was pleased with his performance, as well he might be after making a 17-hour journey on Monday and being short of sleep ever since.
Federer may need to play well again today.
Youzhny is one of the three most in-form players on the ATP Tour with an 18-4 win-loss record this year and who has continued his career best start to a year by reaching back-to-back finals.
The Russian, who beat Nadal on Thursday, is aiming for his second title in two weeks, having won Rotterdam last week, overcoming French Open champion Nadal and reaching the Dubai final brimming with confidence during a 7-5, 6-2 win over Robin Soderling of Sweden. “Mikhail’s a great practice player who is known for beating everyone in practice and not having done it in matches,” said Federer.
Blake Out of Las Vegas Open
After ATP Confusion
The ATP has reversed its decision to award James Blake a quarterfinal berth at the Las Vegas Open, after bending a rule to allow the American through.
Russian Evgeny Korolev, who should have gone through under the rules, will now take his place in the last eight.
Needing to beat Argentine Juan Martin del Potro with the loss of no more than five games to advance on Thursday, top seed Blake was leading 6-1 3-1 when his opponent retired because of breathing problems.
Blake was then told he would not progress as the rules stated games won or lost in a walkover did not count and that Korolev would go through on a head-to-head basis after the Russian beat the American earlier in the competition.
After lengthy discussions the ATP backtracked and awarded Blake a place in the last eight, only to change its decision again on Friday.
In a statement, the ATP said “an incorrect variation of ATP rules resulted in the erroneous passage of James Blake into the quarter-finals.
“The relevant rule states an incomplete match shall not count as a match played for the retiring player. This eliminated del Potro (from Group 1) based on the tiebreak procedure for greatest number of completed matches and left only Blake and Korolev tied with 1-1 records.
“Therefore, under ATP rules Korolev should have advanced having beaten Blake in their round-robin encounter.
“The same rule book prevents the ATP chairman and president or any ATP staff member from making a judgment call on the rules, as no variation can be implemented without ATP board approval.
“The rules state the final decision at a tournament rests solely with the ATP supervisor.” ATP chief executive Etienne de Villiers said: “I was contacted late at night my time and did not fully understand the issues being discussed and I made a judgment call on what seemed fair.
