Tommy Haas on Sam Querrey and other tennis stuff

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Tommy Haas, a 31-year-old veteran of 13 years on the professional tennis circuit who has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the world, had an interesting observation about Sam Querrey, his Saturday night opponent in the semifinals of the LA Tennis Open.

Haas said Querrey, who is a decade younger, always seems unruffled on the tennis court, a little laid-back, ‘very relaxed,’ Haas said. ‘He doesn’t seem to let pressure get to him,’ Haas said. It was hard to tell whether Haas meant that as a compliment or criticism.

On the other hand, Haas said he was sad to see the man he beat Friday night, Marat Safin, getting ready to exit the tennis scene. Safin, once a U.S. Open champion, said he plans to retire at the end of this season. Safin, unlike Querrey, has never seemed anything but riled up on the tennis court, both to the good and the bad. Even last night, in a match not played on the biggest stage, Safin flung his racket in anger once and was lucky to have not hit anyone. ‘Marat’s a good friend of mine,’ Haas said. ‘I’ll miss him but I think he has other things to do now.’

Another Haas observation: the cool, damp air during the night matches at UCLA make the tennis balls troublesome. ‘If you’re not out there it’s hard to explain,’ Haas said. ‘But they are heavy a little bit. It’s almost like you’re playing at altitude.’ Haas fiddled with the balls Friday night, tossing them up and down and scowling at them and talking to them. As far as we could tell, he got no answer.

-- Diane Pucin