Germany's Haas breezes into Los Angeles final

LOS ANGELES, July 30 (Reuters) Germany's Tommy Haas stayed on track for his third ATP title of the year with a comfortable 6-2 7-5 win over Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty in the Los Angeles Open semi-finals.

The 2004 champion breezed through the first set by twice breaking Hrbaty's serve, cleverly varying his pace and delivering a mix of slices and top spins to keep his opponent under pressure.

Seventh seed Hrbaty, playing only his second semi-final of the year, provided stiffer opposition in the second set which went with serve until Haas again broke in the 11th game.

The world number 21 produced a beautifully weighted top-spin lob that landed a foot inside the baseline. That put him 0-40 up on Hrbaty's serve in overcast conditions at the Los Angeles Tennis Center before he clinched the game to lead 6-5 yesterday.

Sixth seed Haas, who fired down nine aces against the Slovak, then served out to finish the match in 65 minutes and book a place in today's final against either Chile's Fernando Gonzalez or Dmitry Tursunov of Russia.

''I'm pretty pleased with the way I played today, especially in the first set,'' the 28-year-old Haas told reporters after winning his third semi-final of the season.

''I had lost my last three matches against him and today was a good opportunity to get revenge.'' The pair have now met 11 times, with Haas winning on seven occasions.

BIG PLAYS ''I needed to start well today, to dictate and be ready for his big plays,'' the German said.

''I think I have the kind of game to open up the court and, if I can do that, it makes it easier to finish off a point against someone like Hrbaty who runs down a lot of balls.

''It is my goal to be in the top 10 by the end of the year,'' added Haas, who won titles earlier this year at Delray Beach and Memphis before suffering a wrist injury in April.

Hrbaty, who has not reached an ATP final since Casablanca in 2004, said: ''It was a good match and Tommy played really well.

''I changed my game a little bit in the second set. I went cross court on more rallies, he started to miss and the game got equal.

''At five-all and 30-0 he played one lucky shot. Then he played a couple of good points and basically it was over.'' Third-seeded Gonzalez and eighth seed Tursunov were playing in the day's later semi-final.

REUTERS AY KN0957