Moya, Paradorn to repeat last year's final at Chennai
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-01-09 13:34

Defending champion Carlos Moya set up a Chennai Open final rematch against Paradorn Srichaphan at the US$400,000 ATP tournament in Madras, India as the world number five beat Spanish compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6- 4, 2-6, 7-6 in Saturday's semi-finals.

Spanish Tennis player Carlos Moya prepares to hit the ball during his match against fellow country man Guillermo Garcia Lopez in The Chennai Open Tennis Championship 2005 in Madras. [AFP]

The match took Moya two hours to withstand a barrage of forehand winners to overcome his 21-year-old Davis Cup sparring partner.

Moya, the 1998 French Open winner, struggled on the fast court as his young rival served solidly and hit some powerful shots to storm through the second set.

In the decider, Garcia-Lopez rallied from 4-2 down to force the tiebreak, while Moya showed his experience to prevail 7-2.

"I was a bit unfocussed and he was very close to beating me," said Moya. "He's a heavy hitter, on his day he can beat anybody."

Second-seeded Paradorn of Thailand reached his fourth consecutive final in Madras with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic.

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