Veteran Haas crashes out to qualifier in Munich semis

BERLIN: Title-holder Tommy Haas crashed out of the Munich ATP tournament semi-finals on Saturday as the 36-year-old suffered a 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan.

Germany´s Haas, the defending Munich champion and former world number two, had few answers as he lost to Klizan in just over an hour, labouring in near-freezing temperatures and missed the chance to reach the Munich final for the third time.

Haas hopes to compete in the ATP Madrid tournament next week.In Sunday´s final, the 24-year-old Klizan, ranked 111 in the world, will face top seed Fabio Fognini after the Italian´s 6-3, 6-1 win over Germany´s Jan-Lennard Struff in the other semi-final.

Fognini, ranked 13th in the world, is chasing his third straight tournament win in Germany after the clay-court specialist won both the Hamburg and Stuttgart ATP titles last year.(AFP)