German fourth seed Tommy Haas surged into the semi-finals of the 323,250 euro (419,754 dollar) BMW Open with a 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5) win over Australian veteran Wayne Arthurs here on Friday. It is the first time Haas has reached the last four since 2000 and he now hopes to become the first German to win the trophy since Michael Stich in 1994. Former World No 2 Haas claimed Arthurs had one of the best serves in world tennis before the encounter but he did not need to break service once winning two tense tie-breaks.
At 6-6 the first set was decided by a tie-break and Arthurs looked in control at 4-1 up but Haas produced some devastating ground strokes to win 8-6.
In the second set left-hander Arthurs was booming aces past Haas but he could not break the German ace whose fierce forehands tested his 34-year-old legs to the limit.
A second tie-break contest followed and Haas triumphed 7-5 to move into the last four.
Fifth seeded Romanian Andrei Pavel will face Haas after beating Dutchman Raemon Sluiter 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in his quarter-final match.
Argentina's number one seed David Nalbandian is the favourite to win the competition but must first dispose of compatriot Juan Monaco in his quarter-final tie.
COLLATED RESULTS (x denotes seed):
QUARTER-FINALS: Andrei Pavel (ROM x5) bt Raemon Sluiter (NED) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3; Tommy Haas (GER x4) bt Wayne Arthurs (AUS) 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5); David Nalbandian (ARG x1) bt Juan Monaco (ARG) 6-0, 6-4; Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) bt Michal Mertinak (SVK) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
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