The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Moya rallies to oust Nadal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 26, 2006

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Moya rallies to oust Nadal

MIAMI: World No. 2, Rafael Nadal of Spain and third seed Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium were eliminated from the $6.9 million WTA and ATP event here on Friday while Andre Agassi withdrew.

Teen-star Nadal, the only man to defeat Swiss world No. 1 Roger Federer this year, lost 12 of the final 16 games as compatriot Carlos Moya rallied for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 triumph after one hour and 42 minutes.

"I played a very good match. I tried to play my game," Moya said. "I guess he didn't play a great match and I played great. So when this happens, anything can happen."

Nadal, 19, praised Moya's performance. "He played good. He played with confidence," Nadal said. "I didn't play good in the important moments. When I need my winner, the winner go out. And he played very tough."

Former world No. 1 Henin-Hardenne, who has won 2006 titles at Sydney and Dubai, fell 7-5, 6-4 to Meghann Shaughnessy.

Henin-Hardenne surrendered a late break to make an early exit.

"She played really well and I wasn't at my best," Henin-Hardenne said. "I miss a little bit of confidence, so you play more neutral, more in the middle than going for the winners and everything.

"We both served pretty well during the whole match, but then I've been broken twice in pretty big games. That was it."

Last-minute withdrawal

Agassi, who turns 36 next month, pulled out just hours before he was scheduled to face Belgian Christophe Rochus in a second-round match. Agassi, a six-time champion here, was seeded 10th. Agassi has already said he was skipping the European clay-court season that begins next month.

"I not only want to play, I want to win," Agassi said. "I am really not in the position to do that, so it's not fair to myself or the fans.

"I'm going to choose to just try to get my body right and keep working, look at the schedule and see what's next at that point. But right now, I'm not in a position to be out there. I'm way less than 100 per cent."

The Australian Open champion and women's world No. 1, Amelie Mauresmo of France, held form with a 6-0, 6-0 romp over Samantha Stosur in only 44 minutes.

She seeks her 23rd career championship and fourth crown of the year, having also taken titles at Paris and Antwerp.

Martina Hingis advanced by eliminating Chinese qualifier Tiantian Sun 6-3, 6-2.

Important results (second round):

Men: Agustin Calleri bt Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-4; Ivan Ljubicic bt Robin Vik 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3; Marcos Baghdatis bt Alex Bogomolov 6-2, 6-4; Nikolay Davydenko bt Mardy Fish 6-4, 7-5; Carlos Moya bt Rafael Nadal 2-6, 6-1, 6-1; Radek Stepanek bt Xavier Malisse 6-1, 6-4; Mario Ancic bt Kevin Kim 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Nicolas Kiefer bt Fabrice Santoro 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4; Nicolas Massu bt Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-4; David Nalbandian bt Paul Goldstein 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(2).

Women: Meghann Shaughnessy bt Justine Henin-Hardenne 7-5, 6-4; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-2; Nadia Petrova bt Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-2, 6-1; Amelie Mauresmo bt Samantha Stosur 6-0, 6-0; Daniela Hantuchova bt Zuzana Ondraskova 6-3, 5-7, 6-3; Martina Hingis bt Tiantian Sun 6-3, 6-2. — Agencies

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