Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 19 March 2007 /

Tommy Haas goes into the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami looking to build on his quarter-final effort in last week's opening Masters Series event in Indian Wells.

At least the Hamburg-born world number nine will feel right at home in Miami, as he lives in Florida.

After his quarter-final defeat by Britain's Andy Murray, he will have had the chance to catch his breath and feel refreshed before going into action in Miami.

The main draw starting on Thursday in the second Masters series event of the year and the second consecutive event where the top names in the men's and women's game play side by side.

Haas, a pro since 1996, is ready to make a big impact this year after an impressive 2006 and it has already started in a promising fashion.

The 28-year-old (he will be 29 on April 3) ended 2006 in the top 10 for the fourth time in six years and won three ATP titles, all on US soil last year (Los Angeles, Memphis and Delray Beach).

There might have been more but for the fact that he kept running into Roger Federer on the title trail, losing to him in Doha, the Aussie Open and in the third round in Miami in the first half of 2006.

Betfair punters should take note that he won 35 of 46 hard court matches last year and so the Miami playing surface will suit his game - unlike clay where he was in the red at 5-6 down.

The good run over the last 15 months makes up to some extent for 2003, when he missed the entire season because of serious shoulder trouble. He was also unlucky in 2005, when he trod on a ball in the warm-up for his first-round match at Wimbledon and missed a full month of action.

But so far this year he has kept his feet firmly on the ground, especially in Indian Wells where he avenged his Australian Open semi-final defeat by Chilean world number five Fernando Gonzalez. After toppling him 6-3 6-2 in the round of the last 16, the German went on to lose to Murray 10-8 in the decisive third-set tiebreaker of their quarter-final.

Last month he added another American title triumph to his list of successes, when he beat Andy Roddick to retain his Memphis title. In fact, he won all five of his matches without dropping a set - and beat five American players in the process.

A week later he was on course for victory in Dubai until he ran into Federer in the semi-finals - again just as in 2006.

In between individual tournament action, the former world number two (May 2002) also won both his Davis Cup matches for Germany in their win over Croatia, beating Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic as the Germans moved into the quarter-finals.

So Haas looks well set for a good run in Miami over the next week or so, but one note of caution for Betfair punters is that he does have his share of bad luck. He did have to retire ill or injured in three tournaments last year.

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