Nadal Collapses in ATP Chennai Final

Posted on January 6, 2008

The talk surrounding the physical fitness of world No. 2 Rafael Nadal grew louder over the weekend when the Spaniard, long known for grinding down opponents, looked a shell of his former imposing figure in falling 6-0, 6-1 to Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the final at the Chennai Open.

Nadal failed to rebound physically and mentally from a long semifinal win the previous night over Spanish countryman and mentor Carlos Moya.

"I am very happy with this title but I did not play against Rafael Nadal today," Youzhny said. "He was dead and could not move. I have to thank Carlos (Moya) for keeping him on the court for four hours last night. I really can't say much more about the final, bad luck for Rafa. This week I started slowly but then played better and better round after round. It is a great start to 2008."

It was the fourth career title for Youzhny, who improves to 4-4 in career finals.

Nadal's Saturday semifinal against Carlos Moya lasted 3 hrs. 54 mins., the longest three-set match since 1993 when Andrei Cherkasov beat Andrea Gaudenzi in the quarterfinals of Tel Aviv.

"I don't want to make any excuses," Nadal said. "I played almost four hours last night and maybe it was too much to come back less than 24 hours later and play the final. I did not recover. Last night it was so emotional against Carlos, who is one of my best friends. I am still happy with my week, first tournament and I reach the final."

In the doubles final, Thai twins Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana won their second ATP doubles title with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Marcos Baghdatis and Marc Gicquel.

"We look absolutely the same, it is ok for us but maybe that confuses the opponents," Sanchai said.