Nadal Moya cruise, Baghdatis ousted

Jan 02:  In a first major upset of ATP year opener, tounament’s second seed Marcos Baghdatis crashed out of the Chennai Open losing to sixth seeded Robin Haase, while Spanish world number two Rafael Nadal overcame late struggle to get past Mathieu Montcourt in the first round of the Chennai Open ATP championship played at the SDAT Stadium here on Tuesday.

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The Dutchman Haase triumphed over the Cypriot Baghdatis 6-3, 6-4, in an hour and 23 minutes and the top seed Nadal defeated Mathieu Montcourt 6-2 6-4 after the determined French baseliner broke his serve and came up with some challenges in the closing stages.

Chennai Open crowd favourite Carlos Moya of Spain did not disappoint his fans after being rusty initially, Moya eased past Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-4, 6-1. In another first-round match, India’s lone hope Prakash Amritraj went down fighting to Russia’s Alexandre Kudryavtsev 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (8).

Hasse broke down Baghdatis serve in the very first game of the match, which set off the slide. The Dutchman was aggressive, attacked consistently from inside the baseline.

The final game of the match, that saw six match points and four break-points, was a stand-up stretch of the predictable. Haase attributed his win to his drop shots and serves.

“It was surprising that he (Baghdatis) didn’t attack me. He virtually gave me the upper hand in the match,” said Haase.

"I don't know what to say," said a dejected Baghdatis who was using the event as preparation for the Australian Open, which starts on January 14.

"I tried things that didn't work. He was serving very well. He had nothing to lose and he was confident."

The Dutchman, ranked 114, produced drops and volleys when it mattered, and left the Cypriot crestfallen. The game saw 10 deuces, with Baghdatis saving five match points. The Cypriot was smiling throughout the final and could not believe upon his luck.

RESULTS

Singles (first round): Robin Haase (Ned) bt Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) 6-3, 6-4; Rafael Nadal (Esp) bt Mathieu Montcourt (Fra) 6-2, 6-4; Lovro Zovko (Cro) bt Thierry Ascione (Fra) 6-4, 6-0; Werner Eschauer (Aut) bt Bartolome Salva-Vidal 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-4; Kristof Vliegen (Bel) bt Marc Gicquel (Fra) 7-6 (5), 6-4,Alexandre Kudryavtsev (Rus) bt Prakash Amritraj (Ind) 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (8)andCarlos Moya (Esp) bt Teimuraz Gabashvili (Rus) 6-4, 6-1.

Monday’s results: Singles (first round): Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Jiri Vanek (Cze) 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles (first round): Yves Allegro (Sui) & Nicolas Mahut (Fra) bt Stephen Huss & David Martin (USA) 6-1, 6-2; Jaroslav Levinsky & Michal Mertinak (Svk) bt Stephen Amritraj & Prakash Amritraj (Ind) 6-2, 7-6(4).