Robin Haase may have been the best surprise at this year’s Wimbledon. The 23-year-old Dutchman looked smooth and relaxed in belting his way to a two-sets-to-one lead over Rafael Nadal in the second round. Haase seemed like the game’s new gunslinger; he hit four aces in one game, grabbed the first set with a spectacular attack on set point, and forced Nadal to raise his game to its highest level to beat him—the scare put a jolt in Nadal that lasted the rest of the fortnight.
I hadn’t seen Haase (pronounced hahse-uh) again until yesterday and today in Stockholm. He’s as smooth as ever, and he’s spent this season making his way back toward the Top 50 after undergoing two knee surgeries in 2008 and 2009. His nickname is Schlobber, and his demeanor and gait is casual, but he may be more tenacious than he appears. Today Haase saved four match points in the second set against Stan Wawrinka before losing 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-4. There's an elastic quality to him; he’s loose-limbed, and he generates power in an easy way. A little too easily, perhaps. He likes to go for broke, and he made a few errors late in the third on shots he should have played more safely. Win or lose, though, Haase makes tennis look like an enjoyable thing to do, and watch.
—Steve Tignor