Tremendous Tomic halts Haas in Halle

Bernard Tomic produced one of his best performances of the season to eliminate German veteran and crowd favourite Tommy Haas in Halle.

Halle, Germany, 21 June 2017 | AAP

Don’t write off Bernard Tomic’s 2017 season just yet.

Taking to the court in Halle, the 24-year-old Australian, who has fallen to 61st in the world during a lacklustre year on the ATP Tour, wiped the floor with German veteran Tommy Haas to record a 6-4 6-4 opening-round victory.

Tomic appeared a far cry from the player who had struggled to a 6-12 yearly win-loss record in 2017.

His tennis wasn’t flawless but it was easily the best he has produced all year as he failed to give Haas, who last week beat Roger Federer in Stuttgart, a sniff.

Tomic didn’t face a single break point in the match as he mixed up the speeds on serve, sending down seven aces.

The Queenslander was also dominant from the back of the court, hitting deep flat forehands to push Haas onto the back foot, forcing errors from the German as he unloaded 33 winners for the match.

Haas was far from happy with his own performance against Tomic.

“I’m not that satisfied with the way I played today, especially in front of a Halle crowd, but that’s how it goes sometimes,” Haas said.

“My body wasn’t where I needed it to be the last few days to give it a real good go. He was also a tricky opponent.”

Tomic will still face a big challenge in the second round in the form of Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who owns a 6-2 head-to-head record over the Australian.

The duo are locked at 1-1 on grass.

While Haas lost, the man he conquered last week, Federer, got back to his regular winning style in Halle.

The eight-time tournament champion ripped through his opening round match against Japan’s Yuichi Sigita 6-2 6-1 in just 52 minutes, leaving the Swiss satisfied.

“I had never played him. And playing against me, all are always very motivated. That doesn’t make it easy but I’m very satisfied,” Federer said.