Estoril Open 2005 News and Events

April 28, 2005

Top seed Carlos Moya won the all-Spanish battle against fellow Roland Garros champion Juan Carlos Ferrero after a closely fought three-set marathon at the Estoril Open.

Moya, the 2000 champion, put the disappointment of missing three match points in the second set behind him before emerging a 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4 winner in 2 hours, 48 minutes to reach the quarterfinals at the Estadio Nacional. It was Moya's second victory over Ferrero this year, and his fourth overall in their 11 career meetings.

"I'm feeling better and better every week," said Moya. "When I came here I didn't know where my game was, but I've had two good wins against two good players, so I'm feeling confident again, I'm very motivated and think I have chances to win tournaments again."

In what was an eagerly anticipated second round clash between the two former World No. 1s, it was Ferrero - the 2001 Estoril Open champion - who made the better start, going up an early break to lead 2-1 in the opening set. But Moya broke back immediately and did so again in the 12th game to take the set on just his second break point of the match.

In the second, both players traded early breaks; Ferrero led 2-0 before Moya leveled at 2-2, Ferrero broke again and led 4-2 before Moya hit back to win the next three games. Serving at 4-5, Ferrero saved a match point at 30-40 with a service winner and was forced to save two more at 5-6, producing a backhand that clipped the sideline on the first. With renewed confidence, Ferrero took the tie-break 7-4 and had the momentum going into the decider.

Having saved two match points in his first round win against Marcos Baghdatis, Ferrero was looking to repeat the feat against his countryman. But Ferrero's hectic schedule of the last two weeks in which he reached the semifinal at the Masters Series Monte-Carlo and the final in Barcelona seemed to be taking its toll. Ferrero saved two break points in the fifth game but he could do little to stop Moya in the ninth, as the World No. 9 broke to serve for the match.

He made no mistake on his fourth match point, clinching his place in the quarterfinals with a forehand winner.

"All the matches we've played against each other have been very tough fights," added Moya. "I knew he was playing better and I was playing worse, so I expected this kind of match. I could have won in straight sets, but I didn't. I kept fighting hard and I think I stayed consistent throughout the whole match.

"Today I felt confident with my forehand, so I was able to use the drop shot a lot today and bring him into the net more than he's used to. I think I had a high percentage of points won when I used the drop shot today."

A disappointed Ferrero said: "It was a very close match. It was just one break in the third set and he won the match. I think the key to the match was that I didn't take my chances in the first and second sets. I was up two breaks in the second but didn't win until the tie-break. In the third, I was so tired physically and it was very difficult for me to get to the ball. He was more fresh than me, maybe because he hasn't played that many matches in the last two weeks."

Moya will now meet Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who defeated Czech qualifier Tomas Cakl 6-1, 6-1 in just over an hour to reach his second quarterfinal of the season. Mathieu reached the quarterfinals in Chennai in the first week of the year, losing to Moya on that occasion as the Spaniard went on to win the title.

Elsewhere in second round action, Spain's Tommy Robredo advanced to the last eight with a convincing 7-5, 6-0 victory over countryman Santiago Ventura.

In the women's draw, second seed Dinara Safina moved through to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Katerina Bondarenko, while Jill Craybas and Mariana Diaz-Oliva also won in straight sets. In the longest women's match of the day, Czech qualifier Lucie Safarova saved four match points before defeating Michaella Krajicek 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-5 in 2 hours, 47 minutes.