Moya Faces Srichaphan in 1 vs. 2 Chennai Final

Posted on January 11, 2004

The Tata Open in Chennai got its 1 vs. 2 final Saturday when top-seeded Carlos Moya beat back No. 3 Sjeng Schalken in straight sets, and No. 2 Paradorn Srichaphan, to the delight of an enthusiastic crowd, saved six match points to best No. 4 Tommy Robredo in three sets. "I knew it would be a tough match, I practiced with him last Saturday," said Srichaphan, appearing in his third consecutive Chennai final. "He's improved a lot especially his serve and returning. First set was really quick. I wasn't into the match. But I kept fighting in the second set. After I saved some match points in the second set tiebreak I thought it would be mine, but you never know because he was serving so well. Then I was down two match points at 4-5 in the third set. Luck was with me today." Moya beat the Thai easily last year at the TMS-Miami in their only previous meeting. The doubles final will be the top-seeded team of Erlich/Ram (d. Spaniards Lopez Moron/Portas in the semis) versus unseeded Spaniards Nadal/Robredo (d. Fystenberg/Matkowski in three).

French wildcard Nicolas Escude capped a stellar week in Doha Saturday, beating Ivan Ljubicic in the all-unseeded final 6-3, 7-6(4) at the Oil Open. Escude improved his career record in finals to 4-2, and was playing in his first event since Wimbledon last year where he retired with a hip injury, beginning a six-month layoff. "I'm winning a tournament after haven't played for six months, since Wimbledon, it's a crazy thing," the Frenchman said. "I was a little bit nervous in the beginning of the first set...It's a perfect week winning without losing any sets. I arrived here one week before the tournament started and played very well in practice. I have a lot of confidence for the Australian Open." The doubles final will be played on Sunday.

The bottom fell out of the Adelaide final Saturday when both remaining seeds were beaten in the semis, with Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty upsetting No. 6 Jarkko Nieminen, and French qualifier Micheal Llodra ousting No. 5 Taylor Dent. "It will be a good day for me in the final and I will try to do my best against Dominik," said Llodra, who last year qualified for the Masters Cup doubles with countryman Fabrice "Slice & Dice" Santoro, and will be appearing in his career-first singles final. "I have nothing to lose. I'm going to try and put a lot of pressure on him and make some returns and see what happens. I feel no pressure." Llodra won their only career meeting in 2001. The doubles final will be Americans the Bryan brothers (d. Merklein/Spadea in the semis) against Frenchman Clement/Llodra (d. Koenig/Pala).


WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
American Ashley Harkleroad's nerves got the best of her Saturday in her first career final at Auckland, where No. 3 seed Eleni Daniilidou collected her third career title in a 6-3, 6-2 stroll. "Today I just didn't have it," said H-Road, who led 3-1 in the first set before the wheels came off. "She did a great job of running me side to side and she was very accurate, hardly making any mistakes. She has a great backhand slice and it was very windy and difficult to control the ball. It was her day today...I wasn't really nervous this morning -- I tried to treat it like any other match, although I think I was a little excited and had some butterfly nerves." In the doubles final, the team of Jugic-Salkic/Kostanic pulled a huge upset over top seeds Ruano Pascual/Suarez 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-1.

Japan's Ai Sugiyama held her top seeding in the Gold Coast final, coming from behind to defeat No. 2 seed Nadia Petrova of Russia 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 Saturday. "First, I was happy to make it to the final, I had some tough matches along the way," Sugiyama said. "I almost lost my match yesterday and again today, but I just didn't give up. The key was that I just kept playing my game. Even though I was down 4-1 in the third, I kept my concentration. It was one of my best comebacks. I surprised myself." Petrova struggled after pulling a leg muscle mid-match. "My injury happened in the middle of the second set," The Russian said. "I was OK at the beginning of the third, but at 3-0, we had a very long game, and I hurt it again. I was still lucky to get to 4-1, but after that, I was finished, and Ai kept playing some unbelievable tennis." Petrova is now 0-2 in career finals, both lost to Sugiyama, while Japan's No. 1 is 6-5 in career finals. In the doubles final, Russians (1) Kuznetsova/Likhovtseva, in their first-ever partnership, held off (2)Huber/Maleeva 6-3, 6-4.

Play at the WTA Sydney event begins today with matches including Pratt vs. Zvonareva, Serna vs. Bovina, Myskina vs. Raymond, Dragomir-Ilie vs. Svensson (Singles Q final), Chladkova vs. Jankovic (Singles Q final), Randriantefy vs. Casanova (Singles Q final), and Black vs. Cargill (Singles Q final). On court at Canberra Sunday will be Martinez Granados vs. Obziler (Singles Q final), Parra vs. Adamczak, Ondraskova vs. Obata, Panova vs. Fislova (Singles Q final), Gussoni vs. Pennetta, Vakulenko vs. Schaul, Santangelo vs. Abramovic (Singles Q final), and An.Serra Zanetti vs. Tatarkova (Singles Q final). On court in Hobart Sunday are Yoshida vs. Grandin (Singles Q final), Wheeler vs. Brandi, Vento-Kabchi vs. Schett, Salerni vs. Bachmann (Singles Q final), Morigami vs. Granville, Callens vs. Asagoe, Camerin vs. Cervanova, Tamaela vs. Keothavong (Singles Q final), and Benesova vs. Washington (Singles Q final).

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Greg Rusedski wants the ATP to drop the positive drug test against him, saying others have also tested with low levels of nandrolone, and that he is being "singled out." Nice try. Rusedski is expected to use the "Bohdan Ulihrach defense" at his trial next month, saying that like Ulihrach's positive test (that was later reversed), his was the fault of the ATP...Ivan Ljubicic says Croat countryman Goran Ivanisevic is "close to coming back."...Serena Williams says she will skip the Aussie Open to let her knee heal more, a day after Venus told the press her sister would be playing Melbourne, nice communication...Greg Rusedski's lawyer wants other players who have tested positive for nandrolone to come forward -- good luck, nice defense...Petr Korda says 'What comes around goes around' after Greg Rusedski was busted for doping. The Brit spoke out against Korda after the Czech was busted for doping in 1998: "I hated suggestions I was a cheat, although some players were very vocal about me," Korda told the BBC. "Greg Rusedski was one of those. I do not know exactly what he said but I am aware it was not particularly nice."...The United States won a record third Hopman Cup on Saturday when Lindsay Davenport and James Blake led the U.S. over Slovakia's Karol Kucera and Daniela Hantuchova in the final. Blake is the only player to win it twice after last year running to the title with Serena Williams...Greg Rusedski is a zero on the sympathy scale in Britain after failing the ATP drug test from last year in Indianapolis, with even Tim Henman failing to rush to his defense...The No. 11 ranked Venus Williams will get preferential seeding at the Australian Open after a suggestion from the WTA due to her time off the tour with injury, rising to the No. 3 spot...If you want an opinion on the drug scandals in men's tennis, don't ask Frenchman Nicolas Escude. Two years ago Escude was reprimanded by the ATP for saying: "Anyone who thinks the tour is clean is living in a dream world," and was told not to repeat such remarks. "No comment," he said yesterday when asked the same question about drug on tour.