Former World No.2 Tommy Haas looks set to return to the main tour in 2017, as a Chilean newspaper La Tercera has reported that he is set to start working with a former World No.1 player as his coach.
Haas is rumoured to be readying himself for the new season under the supervision of Chilean Marcelo Rios, who was ranked World No.1 in 1998. The two are known to be close friends and actually played against each other seven times on the tour, with Rios owning a 4-3 head-to-head record against Haas.
If Rios and Haas can continue their good friendly relationship into a professional working one, Haas could be onto a good year in 2017. The Chilean is also likely to be able to call on former coach Larry Stefanki, who was responsible for his rise to the top of the rankings, as well as coaching the likes of Fernando Gonzalez, and Andy Roddick to grand slam finals. The German has not played since October 2015 due to injury issues that have plagued his career, but clearly feels healthy enough to give the tour one final shot.
Rios’ ascension to coaching status would mark a change in the number of proclaimed “super-coaches” replacing the outbound Boris Becker who recently stepped down as the coach of Australian Open and Roland Garros champion Novak Djokovic.
