Former No. 1s Hewitt, Moya Square Off in Sydney Final

Posted on January 17, 2004

Two former No. 1s looking to reclaim past glory will compete in the Sydney final Saturday when Carlos Moya, looking for his second title in two weeks, faces Lleyton Hewitt. The No. 3-seeded Moya, who rolled over South African veteran Wayne Ferreira 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals, won in his first outing of the year last week in Chennai. Hewitt, the No. 7 seed, advanced to the final when No. 8 seed Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk retired due to dizziness after losing the first set 6-2. "I felt very dizzy, and I had some stomach problems before the match, actually. A half an hour before, I had diarrhea," said Verkerk, offering far too much information. "But I thought I was gonna be okay. But also the first part of the match I felt like light in the head, dizzy, and like especially when I wanted to start serving and look down, I was really like dizzy. After long rallies, difficult to look and everything. So it was not safe for me to go on for my health." Enough already, sounds like a kid trying to talk their way out of going to school.
Moya is 5-3 lifetime against Hewitt, the only player with five wins over Hewitt in his career, and has won their last two meetings on hardcourts. "I feel like I've got enough matches against worthy opponents (going into the Aussie Open)," Hewitt said. "Tomorrow's obviously going to be another step up in class, playing against Carlos." The Sydney doubles final will feature two of the top teams on tour in the American Bryan twins against the Swedish-Aussie combo of Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge. The title would give Woodbridge 79 career doubles titles, overtaking Tom Okker for the Open Era record.

Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty scored two wins Friday at Auckland, upping his record to 9-0 on the year and putting him on the verge of a second consecutive title in two weeks. The unseeded Slovak finished a three-set rain-delayed match with German qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber before pounding out a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 3 seed and defending champion Gustavo Kuerten. "It was a very nice match for me, especially after I lost to him the last two times," The Dominator said. "I played well today, especially from the baseline. I hit a couple of good shots, I saved a couple of break points which was very important...I worked very hard during the month off. I was doing a lot of tennis, about five hours a day and a lot of physical workout. It's probably paid off in the beginning of the year." Nice understatement. In the final Hrbaty will face unseeded Spaniard Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, who after a slow start to the year is fulfilling heavy expectations, on Friday dismissing No. 2 seed Jiri Novak 6-1, 6-3. "Novak didn't play well, but I played a very good match," said Nadal, who will be appearing in his first ATP singles final. "Novak looked a bit tired to me. He didn't look so sharp. I tried to be aggressive and dominate the rallies. I started a bit slow, a bit defensive in the first game. At the beginning, I was probably a little bit tired but I loosened up a bit." Hrbaty won his lone meeting with Nadal in straight sets at the end of last year on carpet at Lyon. "I'll have to play him a bit faster so he doesn't move me around the court," Hrbaty said on facing The Prodigy again. "I have some notes in my head out of this (Lyon) match and I remember what he played." The doubles final will be (1)Bhupathi/Santoro vs. Novak/Stepanek.


WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Friday was literally a wash at the WTA event in Sydney, with No. 4 seed Lindsay Davenport pulling out of her semifinal match with top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne due to a right shoulder sprain, and rain washing out the other semifinal between No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo and unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone. "I'm just really sad that I can't play," Davenport said. "Obviously, it was a big match and I was looking forward to it as I didn't play (Henin-Hardenne) much last year. At this point of where I am in my career and all the injuries I've had, I just feel like it's best right now to get my arm better. The doctor and the trainers feel like three to four days' rest will mean a huge difference. There's a chance it can heal completely. I've dealt with much worse injuries and much worse things, so I'm pretty optimistic that it will heal."
On Saturday in Sydney, Henin-Hardenne waits in the final to play the winner of Mauresmo-Schiavone. Mauresmo leads H-H 2-1 in their head-to-heads, while H-H leads Schiavone 3-0. The doubles final will be (3)Black/Stubbs vs. (WC)Safina/Shaughnessy.

In the Friday Hobart final, unseeded American Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier won her first title in almost five years, upsetting No. 6 seed Shinobu Asagoe of Japan 6-3, 6-3. "I think I definitely played one of my best matches all week," said the 31-year-old Frazier. "I felt I hit my groundstrokes well and my returns well. And while I didn't win too many free points on serve, it generally went in." It's always good to see that the pros can generally get their serves in. It was the seventh career title for Frazier, and left Asagoe with an 0-2 career mark in finals. Asagoe made up for the loss in the doubles final, partnering with countrywoman Okamoto in a win over top-seeded Callens/Schett 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in their first-ever tournament pairing.

The seeds fought through in the Canberra semifinals Friday, with (2)Paola Suarez outlasting Croatian teen Karolina Sprem in three sets, and (3)Silvia Farina Elia beating Julia Vakulenko in straights. "I had my opportunity and I did not take it, so I am the loser again," said the cheery Sprem, who blew three break points at 2-1 in the third, then promptly dropped her serve in the next game. "I was very positive in the third set, but when I did not break at 0-40, I lost some concentration, and you cannot give chances to Top 20 players." Farina Elia leads the head-to-head with Suarez 2-0 going into the power-outage-style final. "I am looking forward to the final. I believe in myself and I think I can win," Farina Elia said. "Why not dream a little?" The doubles final will be Gagliardi/Mandula or Kostanic/Schaul (to finish) vs. Dhenin/McShea.

ATP CURRENT TOP 10 AUSSIE OPEN RESULTS FROM 2003
1. Andy Roddick (USA) -- Semifinalist
Ran out of juice after a 21-19 fifth-set victory over Younes El Aynaoui in the quarterfinals.
2. Roger Federer (SUI) -- lost in R16
Felled in five sets by his Argentine Nemesis David Nalbandian.
3. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) -- Quarterfinalist
Surprisingly stopped in straight sets by solid Aussie Open performer Wayne Ferreira.
4. Andre Agassi (USA) -- Champion
Beats year-end Top 10ers Guillermo Coria and Sebastien Grosjean en route, and thumps Rainer Schuettler in the straight-set final.
5. Guillermo Coria (ARG) -- lost in R16
Beat Clavet, Canas, and Nieminen before losing to champ Agassi.
6. Rainer Schuettler (GER) -- Runner-up
Had what will likely be his career moment in tennis, running to the final before getting housed by Agassi.
7. Carlos Moya (ESP) -- lost 2nd round
Was stunned in five sets by serve-and-volleying American Mardy Fish.
8. David Nalbandian -- Quarterfinalist
Took out Federer before the surprise loss to Schuettler.
9. Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) -- Quarterfinalist
Survived a five-setter against Felix Mantilla in the R16 before being pummeled by Agassi.
10. Mark Philippoussis (AUS) -- lost in 3rd round
After solid wins over Verkerk and Srichaphan, was stunned by the smooth-stroking Sargis Sargsian in another home-grown disappointment.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Both Carlos Moya in Sydney and Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty in Auckland are 9-0 on the season, and can enter the Aussie Open with perfect 10-0 marks and two titles...Second round men's qualifying upsets at the Aussie Open were Mayer d. (2)Levy, Economidis d. (20)Lopez, Hemmes Jr. d. (22)Elsner, Mamiit d. (5)Vassallo Arguello, Hadad d. (11)Pescosolido, and Kralert d. (17)Ivo "I Used to Data Hingis" Heuberger...Tim Henman has told BBC Sport that his gut feeling is that Greg Rusedski is clean: "I take my hat off to him the way he's come down here and has played some really good tennis. My gut feeling is that he wouldn't do something like that so that's why it (the positive drug test) puts a lot of uncertainty into players' minds."...Sure David Nalbandian looked good in his Kooyong exhibition win over world No. 1 Andy Roddick, but will the fragile wrist stand up to seven best-of-five matches?