The Hindu : Sport : King Moya keeps his crown

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 10, 2005

Sport

Sport

King Moya keeps his crown

By K. Keerthivasan

— Photo: R. Ragu

IT'S A GREAT FEELING: Carlos Moya gives vent to his emotions after winning the Chennai Open on Sunday to become the first player to retain the title in India's premier international men's tennis event.

CHENNAI, JAN. 9. The critics call him the `one Slam' wonder and it is doubtful whether Carlos Moya would go on to win another Grand Slam apart from the French Open he clinched in 1998. However, with his stupendous display in the Davis Cup final against the United States in Seville (Spain) recently, the Spaniard proved that his career was far from over.

And on Sunday at the Chennai Open, the defending champion and top seed Moya rewrote the record books by becoming the first player in eight editions of the ATP Tour event to retain his crown.

In a thrilling final which saw the pendulum swing both extremes, the Spaniard defeated the second-seeded Thai Paradorn Srichaphan 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) at the SDAT-Nungambakkam Stadium.

With this victory, Moya broke the jinx of no player defending his title successfully and also maintained his unbeaten record against Srichaphan. Their head-to-head count reads 3-0.

Fans, rooting for both players, would have felt sorry for Srichaphan who was the sentimental favourite. What could have been his second title in four finals here was cruelly snatched away at the very last moment by Moya. Srichaphan was serving for the match at 5-2 in the decider and looked set to run away with the deciding set.

The `adopted son' of Chennai, Srichaphan hardly put a foot wrong in the first set, a not-so-mobile Moya only making his job easier. The backhand down-the-line winners kept flowing from the racquet of the World No. 27 as he took a 2-0 lead. With the top seed unable to match him from the backcourt, the first set came to a quick end in 32 minutes.

However, knowing the way Moya has played in the tournament, it would have been a huge mistake to write him off. Regarded as a slow starter, Moya got into his groove later than usual today. He started to get his serves right and started to get his feet in the second set.

After equalising 3-3 from 0-2, Moya returned wonderfully well and earned a crucial break in the eighth game — Srichaphan committed two doublefaults — to go up 5-3. Srichaphan did not give up and broke Moya back at love in the very next game. At 4-5, Srichaphan's volleying let him down and the Spaniard, ranked No. 5 in the world, levelled the match on his fourth set point when an approach volley from the Thai sailed wide.

Thrilling climax

The packed stadium was treated to some exciting stuff in the final set as both players came up with some fantastic rallies, and some silly mistakes too. Srichaphan was all set to serve for the match after taking a 5-2 lead. Going for his shots, the Thai lost the game and a wonderful opportunity to close out the tie.

Moya, meanwhile, kept his nerve and displayed tremendous grit and determination. With some deep shots and fine angles, Moya turned the heat on Srichaphan. The match turned so dramatically that it was the second seed who had to save a matchpoint in the 12th game.

The tiebreaker saw Moya take a 5-3 lead, but the Thai, rightly nicknamed `Tiger', fought back. However, two backhand errors gave Moya a memorable win, one that he will cherish for long. The encounter lasted two hours and 32 minutes.

"It was a strange match. He was controlling it from the beginning. Once I broke him at 5-2 in the third set, I thought I played the best match of the week. It feels great to win," said Moya, who donated his entire prize-money ($52,000) to the tsunami victims.

Srichaphan said, "He (Moya) played very well, moving me from side to side — that made me tired." The Thai took home $30,600.

The results (final):

Singles: Carlos Moya (Esp) bt Paradorn Srichaphan (Tha) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).

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