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Inspired Moya downs big-hitting Paradorn
Beijing, 12 September 2005 - A majestic Carlos Moya tamed Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets at the China Open today (Monday), in a grinding first-round match-up of power and finesse.
With his 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory, the popular Spaniard gave himself a massive boost of confidence and erased the memory of his early exit from last year’s tournament.
“I am very happy with this win,” beamed the eighth seed. “[Paradorn] is always a tough opponent, but today I was very focused and really wanted to win.”
“Last year I did not have a good tournament and I was upset with myself. This year I was ranked lower than I was in 2004, so I didn’t come here with a lot of confidence. But today I served well, and I guess I was a little bit lucky and a little bit inspired.”
The close match captivated the assembled fans and drew high praise from tournament director Ekkehard Rathgeber, who is also chief operating officer of tournament co-organiser TOM Group Limited, an associate of Hutchison Whampoa Limited.
“Paradorn is a player of considerable talent and is capable of producing periods of exquisite play, but tonight Moya was more than a match for his big-hitting style,” said Rathgeber.
On court, the pair stayed on serve until the first-set tie-break, with Paradorn – who hit seven aces to Moya’s two – hammering big serves at the Spanish baseliner. But Moya stood firm and although Paradorn managed to save one set point in the tie-break, he succumbed on the Mallorcan’s next serve.
In the second set, the players exchanged breaks of serve early on before matching each other almost point for point for the next four games. But at 3-3, Moya pulled away, releasing one powerful groundstroke after another past the lunging Paradorn.
Former world No.1 Moya, whose ranking has slipped to 33 after a frustrating year, faces Stefan Koubek in the second round after the Austrian beat Switzerland’s Ivo Heuberger 6-3, 7-6.
In other matches, Dutchman Peter Wessels beat Australia’s Wayne Arthurs 7-6, 6-4 while Russian Dmitri Tursunov brushed aside Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller 6-3, 6-4.
Another of Spain’s former world number ones, Juan Carlos Ferrero, was playing Lee Hyung Taik of South Korea in the last of the day’s matches.
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Released on behalf of TOM Group and the China Open by Two Up Front - Asia’s sports PR specialists.