Carlos Moya clinches debut ATP Champions Tour title; holds World No.1 spot at year-end – Tennis News
Carlos Moya does it again with his fourth title in succession and grabbing the year-end number one spot in South Airways Champion Tour rankings. He made his debut in Champions tour after his retirement earlier this year and remarkably
climbed the top spot defeating Mariano Zabaleta 6-3, 6-4 in the Royal Guard Champions final in Santiago, Chile.
Spanish tennis icon was extremely delighted at his achievement and said “For the first year to finish at Number one is all I could hope for, it’s great. After I lost to Thomas (Envqvist) this week I knew I had to try to beat Mark
(Philippoussis) in straight sets, not just for a final place but to get those extra rankings points as well”.
Former World No.1, Moya, played some scintillating shots in the finale and knowing that he would climb up to the top spot, he made no mistakes in winning the match and claiming the number one spot at year-end rankings. Talking
about his performance in the final match, he said, “I think this was my best match of the week today. The conditions were so much better - it was in the night so it was a bit colder and the ball wasn’t flying so much”.
Spaniard is one of those rare talents in the field of tennis that saw three of the greatest times in their career, winning Roland Garros Grand Slam title in 1998, climbing to the World No.1 spot next year and winning Davis Cup
in 2004. He has been prolific since his teenage winning several major titles and attracting the media’s attention.
He favoured clay and was arguably one of the best performers of clay-courts but his outstanding run in 1997’s Australian Open showed his class on hard-courts as well; he reached the final but lost to one of the world’s best tennis
players of his era, Pete Sampras.
Moya has maintained an outstanding record this year and lost just two matches in all tournaments he played. He is happy to be fit and ecstatic to maintain such a fantastic form even after retiring from international circuit.
He still regrets the fact he could only manage to win single Grand Slam title throughout his career but his overall performances at levels and in all tournaments were one of the best in tennis arenas. With such a classic start
to his after-retirement career, he expects to carry this commendable form in coming years.
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