THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Tommy Haas won his fourth Invesco Series QQQ title of the year Saturday by defeating U.S. Davis Cup captain and defending champion Mardy Fish 6-2 in the one-set final of the SoCal Honda Dealers Helpful Cup at the Sherwood Country Club.
Haas, the former world No. 2 and silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games, increased to a perfect 8-0 on the year with the victory. Earlier this year, he won titles in Newport Beach, Calif, Maui, Hawaii and New Haven, Connecticut on the North American tennis circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30.
Haas broke Fish in the opening game of the final and never looked back, ripping his picturesque one-handed backhand and hitting key aces and service winners to claim the tournament title.
“It was just a couple important points here and there and I got up an early break and that helped me calm down and relax,” said Haas. “I’m pretty happy with the way I played.”
Haas, who lives in Southern California and who serves as the Indian Wells tournament director, said playing on the Invesco Series QQQ circuit is a great way for him to stay in shape and keep his competitive juices flowing since retiring from the ATP World Tour in 2017.
“I enjoy playing tennis with lots of my friends here in Los Angeles to try to get ready for these events,” said Haas, age 41. “It’s a great way to get that adrenaline rush going and still trying to see how well you move at times and to see if you can hit a shot here or there. It’s always fun. I really I enjoy it.”
The win over Fish avenged his loss to the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the semifinals of the event last year by a 7-6(3) margin. Fish went on to win last year’s event, defeated James Blake in the final.
Since joining the Invesco Series at the start of the 2018 season, Haas has compiled an impressive 13-3 won-loss record. Last year, he won titles in Charleston, S.C. and Kohala Coast, Hawaii.
To advance to the final, Haas defeated 2003 U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick 6-3 while Fish beat two-time French and Australian Open champion Jim Courier 6-3.
The 10th and final event on the 2019 Invesco Series QQQ will be held Thursday, November 14 at Rice University in Houston with the Oracle Champions Cup Presented by RBC Wealth Management. The event will feature Haas, Blake, Roddick and, in his Invesco Series QQQ debut, Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.
Results from earlier this year are as follows:
January 26 – Newport Beach, CA (Newport Beach Tennis Club) F: Tommy Haas def. Andy Roddick 7-6(2); SF: Tommy Haas def. Mardy Fish 6-3, Andy Roddick def. James Blake 6-3
April 4 – Tampa, FL (Innisbrook Resort) F: James Blake def. Jim Courier 6-3; SF: James Blake def. Mardy Fish 6-3, Jim Courier def. John McEnroe 7-6(4)
April 6 – Charleston, SC (Volvo Car Stadium) F: Lleyton Hewitt def. Andy Roddick 6-2; SF: Lleyton Hewitt def. Mats Wilander 6-3, Andy Roddick def. Jim Courier 6-4
May 4-5 – Maui, HI (Royal Lahaina Resort) F: Tommy Haas def. Mardy Fish 6-4; SF: Tommy Haas def. Mark Philippoussis 6-2, Mardy Fish def. Michael Chang 6-3
July 21 – Newport, RI (International Tennis Hall of Fame) F: Todd Martin def. Mats Wilander 6-2 SF: Todd Martin def. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-4, Mats Wilander def. Jim Courier 6-2
August 3 – San Jose, CA (San Jose State University) F: James Blake def. Mark Philippoussis 7-6(4); SF: James Blake def. Michael Chang 6-2, Mark Philippoussis def. Andy Roddick 7-6(4)
September 7 – New Haven, CT (Yale University) F: Tommy Haas def. Mark Philippoussis 6-4; SF Mark Philippoussis def. Andy Roddick 6-4, Tommy Haas def. James Blake 6-2.
September 26 – Toronto, ON (Mattamy Athletic Centre): F: James Blake def. Robby Ginepri 6-4; SF: James Blake def. Jim Courier 6-3, Robby Ginepri def. Andy Roddick 6-4.
October 26 – Los Angeles, CA – (Sherwood Country Club) Tommy Haas def. Mardy Fish 6-2, SF: Tommy Haas def. Andy Roddick 6-3, Mardy Fish def. Jim Courier 6-3
In 2018, Blake won his first Invesco Series QQQ year-long points championship by winning titles in Winston-Salem, New Haven and Houston, while also finishing as runner-up in Los Angeles and Orlando.
In 2017, the year-long points championship was decided in the final match of the season when Andy Roddick defeated James Blake in the Los Angeles final at the Sherwood Country Club. Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and world No. 1, won four Invesco Series QQQ titles in all in 2017, winning in Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, Lincoln, Neb., and Los Angeles. Blake, the former world No. 4 and former U.S. Davis Cup star, won series titles in Charleston, S.C., Winston-Salem, N.C. and in Lynchburg, Va.
In 2016, Mark Philippoussis won the Series points title with 1600 points and tournament titles in Memphis, Tulsa, Newport, Winston-Salem and New Haven. Roddick finished in second place, also earning 1600 points but losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philippoussis 5-2, while winning titles in Charleston, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Orlando. Blake finished in third place with 1100 points and tournament titles in Chicago, Portland and Brooklyn.
In 2015, Roddick won the Series points title in his second year of competing on the series with 1,600 points. Roddick won a record eight events Los Angeles, Lincoln, Chicago, Austin, Little Rock, Dallas, Richmond and Minneapolis. Blake finished second in the points rankings with 1,200 points, winning events in Boston and Cincinnati. Philippoussis finished in third with 1,100 points, winning titles in Salt Lake City and Vancouver. The year before in 2014, McEnroe won the points title for the first time in the nine-year history of Invesco Series QQQ tennis by winning events in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Nashville and Charlotte.
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