Haas stop's Mirnyi's run

Tommy Haas thrilled his home fans by stopping Max Mirnyi's impressive run with a merciless 6-2 6-2 6-2 victory in a one-sided final at the Stuttgart Masters Series tournament on Sunday.

Haas, the 15th seed, needed only 92 minutes to down the 24-year-old qualifier from Belarus, who ran out of steam after knocking out top seed Gustavo Kuerten, Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, Pete Sampras and Yevgeny Kafelnikov on his way to his first final at a major event.

It was the second straight title for Haas, who won in Vienna last Sunday, and the fifth of his career though it was his first in Germany.

"It's been probably the most successful two weeks of my career," Haas said after collecting his first Masters Series shield.

"Winning a Masters Series was always a big goal of mine. I wouldn't have expected to do it this week."

By becoming the first German to win in Stuttgart since Boris Becker in 1996, the 23-year-old Haas moved up to seventh in the ATP Champions Race, boosting his chances of a berth in the season-ending Masters Cup next month in Sydney.

The top seven players in the Race standings will make the trip to Australia with Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic joining them as a Grand Slam winner.

"I'm still not thinking too much about Sydney," said Haas. "I'm enjoying the way I'm playing and I'm having great results. That's the most important thing at the moment."

Mirnyi, who had saved match points in three of his matches to become the first qualifier to reach the Stuttgart final, looked completely lost on the purple court of the Schleyer Halle.

"Tommy was simply too good," he said. "He deserves a lot of credit because he played unbelievable tennis today. Still, I'm happy because this has been the greatest week in my career."

IN CONTROL

Haas was 2-1 down in the first set when he found another gear, serving strongly and playing aggressively from the baseline to win the next five games.

An early break put him in control of the second set as Mirnyi struggled to recapture the powerful game which had helped him to stunning victories in the earlier rounds.

The issue was already beyond doubt when Hass managed his second break in the decisive set to move 5-3 up. He swiftly gained three match points, ending Mirnyi's suffering with a backhand winner on the first.

Haas pocketed $434,000 for his efforts while Mirnyi took $280,000 and then went to prepare for the doubles final, teaming up with Australian Sandon Stolle against South African Wayne Ferreira and American Jeff Tarango.

Like Haas, a product of Nick Bollettieri's academy, Mirnyi was regarded chiefly as a doubles specialist and had shone in singles only occasionally until this week.

Haas, who has now racked up 10 straight victories, had reached the final by ending Lleyton Hewitt's winning streak of 17 matches -- a 2001 record -- in the semifinals on Saturday.

Australian Hewitt, who would have taken over from Gustavo Kuerten at the top of the Champions Race standings had he won the tournament, has moved past Andre Agassi into second place.

Haas might have won in Stuttgart with perfect timing as the tournament, facing financial difficulties, could be moved to another city. Shanghai, Madrid and Hong Kong have been cited as possible venues.

"I would be very sad if it would leave," said Haas. "We don't have that many big tournaments in Germany."