It was a warm sunny day in Florida. maybe around 79 degrees, not too hot or too cold. It was just right. The Tennis Monthly Recap needed a story for the March issue. We had no one in mind, time was running out and we needed a cover story badly. Thomas with all of his success last year and this year is already, seemed to be the perfect candidate.
Through the assistance of Nick Bolletteri, Tommy and I had agreed to meet in Nick's office promptly at 11:00 A.M. for an interview. I was a little nervous at first, because lets face it- I am a tennis player, not a reporter!
I was just finishing up on the practice court at about 10:30 when I noticed that Tommy was waiting for his intervied. I hit my last ball and needless to say, ended my practice on a good note.
Tommy was one of our first interviews that we were able to get. I wanted to make sure that I was very professional, so I checked to see if I had everything that I needed. I did. I had extra batteries for the tape recorder and I was equipped with my pen and note pad, just like a journalist. Finally I put away my racquets, and took out my tape recorder and I was ready to report!
With the new success that Tommy has had getting to the finals of Auckland (A warm up tournament before the Australian Open) making it to the semifinals of the Australian Open, and just recently winnig his first professional tournament on the ATP Tour in Memphis, there was surely a lot for us to talk about. So naturally my first questions was. "What has all success been contributed to?"
Tommy, sitting upright in his chair has his lips turned upward to a somewhat wry grin, as if he cannot believe that I was actually interviewing him. He turned his attention toward the tape recorder which I had faced toward him and stares at it. his smile widens, and after what seemed like 10 minuets he finally starts to answer the question.
"I never played a tounament before a Grand Slam, so this time I decided to try something new and play a tournament. It actually worked out quite well. I was able to get a lot of matches under me, and I got a lot of confidence. I got to the finals there in Auckland, and then I just played really well at the (Australian) Open." He finishes his line with a storng German accent. I have noticed that some of his smile had disappeared making him appear more serious. he also seemed to be some what jaded of talking of his success at the Australian Open, what it was contributed to, and how he would react to it.
Tommy Grew up im Munich, Germany. His dad Peter Haas started him to playing tennis when he was six years old. He then decided that tennis..
Since Venus and Serena get more support from Non-Americans, I've decided to add the Monthly Tennis Recap to this site for the time being. A website is currently on the way for the Newsletter so this is for international fans who cant get the newsletter. I'll be adding all the latest edition from now on. Please e-mail me at anytime. You may notice that this is a new server and the reason for that is I'm thinking of moving from Xoom and that annoying Xoombar.
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