Haase beats young Frenchman in thriller

It took him 2,5 hours and he had to leave the court due to rain, but Robin Haase won his first round match against Ugo Humbert: 5-7 7-6 7-6.

The player from The Hague made his debut on the Brabant grass over ten years ago, but today’s match on centre court marked the debut for the 20 year old Humbert, the world’s number 61, in Rosmalen. The youngster fought impressively and hit 18 aces, but could not make a difference at the decisive moments.

Although Haase gave away a break advantage, he managed to claim a tie break with the enthusiastic support of the home crowd and to finish the match with a beautiful backhand winner.

For the second consecutive year Haase has reached the second round. He will meet seventh seed Cristian Garin. The 23 year old Chilean is the world’s number 32 and won already two ATP tournaments (on clay) this year.

Holland’s number one had his best result at the Libéma Open in 2015, when he reached the semi-finals.

Frances Tiafoe has also reached the second round on the Brabant grass. The 21 year old American, sixth seed, defeated Joao Sousa from Portugal with 6-2 7-6.

Tiafoe did not loose any points in the tie break of the second set. The USA’s number two and Sousa were scheduled to play on centre court, but the match was moved to Court 1 when the bad weather conditions caused some delay.

Tiafoe will play for a spot in the quarter-finals against Australia’s Jordan Thompson, who was too strong for the American qualifier Tommy Paul: 3-6 6-1 6-4.