Video: Haas interviews Brown—about his dreads

Tommy Haas strikes one-handed backhands on the ATP World Tour like a hungry upstart, not a 20-year veteran. He also moonlights as guest editor of the latest ATP Insider. Some of these player-fronted editions can get a bit tedious, but Haas takes a moment to shine, comfortable in his skin and doing everything from talking about other players' coveted one-handers to have to asking Dustin Brown about his hair and then, well, touching it.

"Is there a hair regimen that you have? Are there any products that you use that I could maybe use? Could I just touch your hair a little? It is special, right? ... It is pretty heavy, right?" So many questions, Mr. Haas! See the 1:34 mark here:

Also among his guest-editing tasks, Haas addresses the Grand Slam match that got away in his career, if he'd ever consider coaching an ATP player, the top German prospect in his mind, and shares whether he still considers the Deutschland home.

It's been said that one should never meet his heroes. For many tennis fans, Haas is a star who's been slinging tennis racquets over his back ever since they took to watching, and perhaps also playing, this sport of a lifetime. Tennis won't have this 37-year-old forever. Like Mardy Fish, who has kicked off his series of goodbye showings at the Atlanta tour stop this week, he will at some point step into that good night of his career. They all will, one after another. With hope, we will all be thankful for the show.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9. News tips gladly accepted. Just don't tell him how to serve.