Haas prevails at U.S. Open

NEW YORK -- Little was ordinary about the start of the U.S. Open for third-seeded Tommy Haas, from being ordered to change out of a sleeveless shirt to three straight double faults in the fifth set.\nOn a day that past champions Pete Sampras and Serena Williams won, while one-hit wonders Jelena Dokic and David Nalbandian lost -- all in straight sets -- Haas and his foil, David Sanchez, produced enough theater for a round's worth of matches.\nHaas pulled out a 7-6 (1), 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory Wednesday that was a struggle for a player normally most comfortable on hard courts. If he can deal with right arm pain that's been hounding him, Haas could be a title threat.\nJust how close did the 61st-ranked Sanchez come to pulling off the upset? He actually won more points: 156 to 155.\nBut their encounter will be remembered most for a prematch talking-to Haas received that put him in sartorial territory previously occupied by Anne White (remember the skintight nylon leotard at Wimbledon in 1985?) and Andre Agassi (remember the denim shorts and Day-Glo bicycle tights?).\nHaas showed up for Wednesday's first-round match wearing a white muscle shirt, that revealed. . .his shoulders.\nGasp!\nIt wasn't nearly as provocative as the zip-down, stop-at-the-thighs black Lycra outfit Williams is wearing. Nonetheless, it caught the attention of chair umpire Norm Chryst. He alerted tournament referee Brian Earley, who turned on the TV, looked at Haas, and ruled the shirt had to go.\nEarley cited Article III, Section C of the Grand Slam rulebook: "Every player shall dress and present himself for play in a professional manner. Clean and customarily acceptable tennis attire shall be worn as determined by each respective Grand Slam."\n"I was given the job of making a determination on the spot. I decided it wasn't 'customarily acceptable,' " Earley said. "It's a gut reaction."\nHaas -- who said sleeves annoy him -- had polo shirts with him and wore those for the 3-hour, 23-minute match.\n"On the women's tour, you see Serena and all those other ladies wearing tight stuff," Haas said. "It's something new, brings something else to the game."\nRight now, men's tennis could use a bit of that if it's going to compete with a women's game that has more intriguing story lines and more-marketed personalities. The WTA Tour isn't shy about letting sex appeal help sell its product.