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Spanish stars overcome first-round hurdles
Beijing, 12 September 2005 - A majestic Carlos Moya tamed Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets at the China Open today (Monday), while fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero was pushed to the limit before defeating Korean Lee Hyung Taik 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
With his 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory, former world No.1 Moya 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.
Early in the second set, the players exchanged breaks of serve before matching each other point for point for the next four games. At 3-3, Moya pulled away, powering one groundstroke after another past the lunging Paradorn.
In the late clash, Ferrero appeared shaky at first and was guilty of numerous unforced errors that very nearly cost him the match. He settled down in the second set, but in the third wasted several breaks and needed five match points to close things out.
“I think I played quite well and didn’t want it to finish because I started to feel good,” said the former world No.1. “On the match points, Lee saved two by hitting aces and I made mistakes on two more before the end came.”
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.
Ferrero will now play Russian Dmitri Tursunov who brushed aside Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller 6-3, 6-4. In today’s other first-round singles match, Dutchman Peter Wessels beat Australia’s Wayne Arthurs 7-6, 6-4.
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Released on behalf of TOM Group and the China Open by Two Up Front - Asia’s sports PR specialists.