The Hindu : Moya sprains ankle, hands title to Hewitt

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 18, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Moya sprains ankle, hands title to Hewitt

SYDNEY, JAN. 17. Third-seeded Carlos Moya injured his right ankle and was forced to quit in the first set against Lleyton Hewitt in the men's final of the Adidas International here on Saturday. The injury put Moya in doubt for the Australian Open, which starts on Monday.

Meanwhile, top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium won the women's title, beating third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-4, 6-4. Earlier on Saturday, Mauresmo beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in a rain-delayed semifinal.

Moya, the 1998 French Open champion and runner-up at the 1997 Australian Open, rolled over on the outside of his ankle attempting a forehand from the back right edge of the court.

The 27-year-old Spaniard was down a break at 3-4 when he fell to the court. Moya played four more points after having his ankle and foot heavily taped, and was trailing 15-40 on Hewitt's serve when he pulled out.

Moya was seeded sixth for the Australian Open and is scheduled to meet American James Blake in the first round. Moya was taken to hospital for scans. An ATP spokesman said the best-case scenario for Moya was a bad sprain after preliminary x-rays didn't show any fracture.

Agassi loses to Nalbandian

In Melbourne, an error-prone Andre Agassi lost to Argentina's David Nalbandian in Saturday's final at the Commonwealth Bank International, another tune-up tournament for the Australian Open.

Nalbandian, who knocked off top-ranked Andy Roddick a day earlier, broke Agassi's serve four times and constantly pressured the American in a 6-2, 6-3 win. Roddick withdrew from a consolation match against second-ranked Roger Federer saying he had foot blisters.

The results:

In Sydney (Adidas International): Men: Final: Lleyton Hewitt bt Carlos Moya 4-3 (retd). Women: Final: Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-4. Semifinals: Amelie Mauresmo bt Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

In Canberra (Canberra women's Classic): Final: Paola Suarez bt Silvia Farina Elia 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

In Auckland (Heineken men's Open): Final: Dominik Hrbaty bt Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

In Melbourne (Commonwealth Bank International): Final: David Nalbandian bt Andre Agassi 6-2, 6-3. Consolation match: Roger Federer bt Alex Corretja 7-5, 6-2.

— AP

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