INDIAN WELLS, California, 14 March 2004 — Tommy Haas scored his first victory in more than 16 months with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist in the first round of the Pacific Life Open on Friday.
In the women’s tournament, qualifier Marissa Irvin stunned 2002 champion Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 in the second round but second seed Kim Clijsters and third seed Lindsay Davenport posted easy victories.
Defending champion Clijsters downed Germany’s Angelika Roesch 6-1, 6-3, while Davenport eased past Italy’s Mara Santangelo, 6-0, 6-0.
Haas had an operation on his shoulder in December 2002 and then had more surgery seven months later, missing the 2003 season.
The German lost in the first round of both San Jose and Memphis last month but skipped the tournament in Scottsdale to do some more training.
The decision paid off as he moved quickly, struck his groundstrokes with authority and returned the ball well.
“It means a lot,” Haas said. “It’s nice to get the monkey off my back, so it’s not some something I have to look forward to in the next tournament. I’m happy that’s taken care of.
“I served and few aces and was pretty confident,” added Haas, who will face Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan in the next round.
Romania’s Andrei Pavel outlasted Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 in three hours, setting up a match with top seed Roger Federer.
Former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson ousted Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 and will face defending champion Lleyton Hewitt.
Hantuchova fought off two match points with brilliant passes but American Irvin took charge in the tiebreaker, tearing apart the Slovak’s soft second serves and dominating the court with her forehand.
“I just kept concentrating and believing I could pull it out,” said 23-year-old Irvin.
“I didn’t let myself get down when I had opportunities and didn’t capitalize on them. I didn’t allow myself to get angry. I just looked to the next point.”
Former top 10 player Hantuchova, who has fallen to No. 36 in the rankings, said she had failed to shake off the rust of not having played for a few weeks.
“I was not playing my best, but I was pleased with myself that I was fighting to the end,” she said. “It almost paid off.”
Ninth seed Jelena Dokic went out in the first round, losing 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to Spain’s Gala Leon Garcia.
