Roger Federer and Tommy Haas
Federer and Haas, good friends off the court, embraced at the end of the three-set thriller. Getty Images

Former World no.2 Tommy Haas has revealed that he has retired from professional tennis after struggling to keep pace with the vigours of going on tour at 36. The German's last win on tour came against Roger Federer in the Stuttgart Open in June 2017, something he believes is a fitting end to his injury-plagued career which lasted over 20 years.

Haas has reached the semifinals of the Australian Open three times, and Wimbledon once. He is among a few players to have reached the quarterfinal stage of each of the Grand Slams. He has won 15 career titles in singles, including one Masters tournament (Stuttgart) in 2001, and has a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics

After breaking into the ATP 100 rankings in 1997, he reached a career-high ranking of 2 in 2002. However, he failed to reach his potential due to a barrage of injuries and twice dropped out of the ATP rankings after not being able to play for over 12 months at a stretch.

Making a comeback in 2017, Haas won matches in Monte Carlo, Munich and Rome, and his last win on tour came in Stuttgart, Germany, in front of his friends and family against none other than 20-time Grand Slam winner Federer. Haas insisted that his last outing was not much about winning or losing than to enjoy his last few days on tour, elaborating on why he decided to call it a day.

"It wasn't really only about winning and losing this time. It was more of going back to these places one more time, really enjoying it, having my family there, really taking it in as a last time as a competitor at these events. The last match that I won on tour will be against Roger Federer, so I'll take that any day," Haas told Desert Sun.

"The reality is when you don't live and breathe as a professional tennis player does all the time. it's not so easy to say — after three, four, five months of not training like a professional — I'm going to give myself a week to get back into the swing.

"It's not that easy, it's not like a team sport where if I could hit and train with the boys for a few weeks, I can tell my teammates and my coach, 'Let me in for a few minutes to see what I can do, and the team and still prevail and win for us.'

"In this case, you have to go out there by yourself and you have to know that you're going to be fit for 60 to 120 minutes, depending on your game and style of play. I don't think I have that in me anymore."

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