Early Life
Born in Hamburg, Germany to Brigitte and Peter Haas, Haas started playing his own version of tennis when he was two years old, by using a wooden plank to hit balls against the wall or into his father's hands. When his father noticed his talents, he started bringing Haas to work, as he happened to be a tennis coach.
At five years of age, Haas won his first youth tournament, in Hamburg. At eight years old, he won his second, in Munich. Between eleven and thirteen, Haas would twice win the Austrian Championship, the German Championship, and the European Championship.
Haas's talents were noted by world renowned tennis guru Nick Bollettieri. Nick was so impressed by the young German's talent that he offered Haas the chance to stay and train at his Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Florida for free. At 13, speaking little English, Haas moved to Florida to begin training at the academy.
Read more about this topic: Tommy Haas
Famous quotes related to early life:
“Many a woman shudders ... at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians ...”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)