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Haas beats Malisse 6-4, 6-3 in Memphis Tommy Haas's sore back calmed down Friday, and he responded by beating eighth-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.
A muscle in Haas' lower left side flared up last week in San Jose, Calif., and the German has played his last few matches wearing a brace for support. But with constant attention from his physical therapist, Haas' back loosened up enough that he was able to put some strength into his serve.
The second-seeded Haas needed only 64 minutes to advance to the semifinals for a second straight week, where he will play eighth-seeded Max Mirnyi, a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (1) winner over Antony Dupuis of France.
"The last thing I want is having to worry about injuries right now," Haas said. "I've dealt with that a very long time. I'm trying to keep my body healthy. That's the most important thing."
Top-seeded Andy Roddick, who won here in 2002, was scheduled to play Robby Ginepri on Friday night at The Racquet Club. The winner will play Kenneth Carlsen of Sweden who beat Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6 (7), 7-5 after saving three break points.
In women's play, No. 3 seed Meghann Shaughnessy barely held off 15-year-old Nicole Vaidisova 7-6 (8), 7-6 (6) as the seventh-seeded Russian fought off five match points in the second set before losing. Shaughnessy will play either top-seeded Vera Zvonareva or No. 8 seed Evgenia Linetskaya in Saturday's championship of the Cellular South Cup.
Haas and Malisse are friends and former competitors at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy. But it's Haas who has dominated their professional matches, taking eight of 10 and the last four since a second-round loss at Wimbledon last summer.
On Friday, Haas double-faulted twice yet still frustrated Malisse with his service game. Haas had only four aces, but lost only two points of serve in the first set. He also was very patient with his second serve, converting 16 of 20 into points in the match.
He won the first set by breaking Malisse's serve at 15-40. Haas quickly took control of the second set by breaking Malisse in the second game for a 2-0 lead and cruised to the victory.
"I feel like I can finally pick up the speed again on my serve without feeling any problems, and I think especially against someone like Xavier who stands back pretty far ... it's important to get a few free points, and I think it worked good today," Haas said.
Mirnyi reached his third semifinal this year, using his serve very effectively with 18 aces and scoring off 90 percent of his first serves. Dupuis had four chances to break Mirnyi's serve and couldn't do it.
"I felt like I was serving comfortably and following it up with other things whether a volley or ground stroke winner. I felt he had to win his service points 100 percent and (that) certainly built the pressure," Mirnyi said.
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