Moodie Wins 1st Career Title at ATP TokyoPosted on October 10, 2005 After saving match points in the semifinals, South African Wimbledon doubles champ Weslie Moodie repeated the feat Sunday in the final at the Japan Open in Tokyo, staging a remarkable comeback to defeat No. 5 seed Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic 1-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 for his first career singles title.
"I felt I was going to get beat when I was down a set and a break," Moodie said. "But somehow I got into a third set, and picked up my standard of tennis." Ancic was shooting for his second title after winning his career-first earlier in the year at 's-Hertogenbosch on grass, and drops to 1-3 in career finals. "I think through the whole match I played a really high level," said Ancic, in the end reinforcing his reputation as a big-match choker. "I controlled the match early to get the first set and go up a break 3-2 in the second. He just played a couple of unbelievable points to break me back, then it was an open match." In doubles, the Japanese wildcard team of Satoshi Iwabuchi and Takao Suzuki claimed their first career title with a 5-4(3), 5-4(13) (ATP experimental scoring) win over Simon Aspelin and Todd Perry, becoming the first all-Japanese team to win an ATP doubles title. |
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