Carlos Moya defeats Richard Krajicek to lift title – Optima Open 2011
Former world number one, Carlos Moya of Spain clinched the title at the 2011 Optima Open in Knokke Heist, Belgium after doing away with Dutch Richard Krajicek in straight sets on Sunday. Playing on the ATP Champions Tour, Moya was playing in only his third event here.
Replacing McEnroe after the American, pulled out of the event citing a hip injury, Moya was never the favourite coming into the event even though he had previously made it to the finals of both the events he played in. A novice on tour, Moya still needed to be rubbed raw or so the Old Ones thought.
Kicking off his campaign on Friday, 19th August Moya battled past the Frenchman Henri Leconte in straight, yet not so simple, sets. Riding a single breakpoint opportunity and another mini-break, Moya had registered a 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Leconte as he moved into the pole position of his group with a 1-0 match and 2-0 set score.
Following a round robin format, Moya next took on the other Frenchman of his three man group, Guy Forget. The current French Davis Cup Team captain probably had other things on his mind as he lost to Moya 6-7(3), 3-6.
Back-to-back straight-sets wins put Moya in the pole position as he moved into the final to play Dutch Richard Krajicek. Krajicek had already moved into the final on Day 1 after playing and winning his two round robin matches on the same day. Opening against the former King of Clay, Bjorn Borg, Krajicek gave the Swede a thrashing to remember as he secured a 6-3, 6-4 win. Later in the day, Krajicek took on Mats Wilander for a spot in the final. Battling it out in three sets, Krajicek did away with Wilander only in the Champions tiebreaker when he registered a 10-1 win, recording a 7-6(5), 4-6, 10-1 win for himself.
With both superstars clashing together in the final, the match was expected to be full of fireworks. However, in only their third meetings in their lifetimes, the match was sooner than expected. With little ease and even easier breakpoint opportunities, Moya sailed past the 1996 Wimbledon Champion as he registered a 6-3, 6-2 win for himself. Playing in only his third event on tour and in his debut appearance in Belgium, Moya has a three on three for final appearances with a 2 of 3 title hit. He had earlier won the title at Sao Paulo in May.
Delighted by his win, Moya instantly tweeted, “Vamos” to his vast fan following. While talking to the press, Moya said, “It’s important to win still so having the title here is really good. It’s been my first time in Belgium this week and I’ve really loved it. The crowd have been great, the weather had been good and it has been an honour to be on the same court as so many of my idols. I hope I am invited back to play next year and defend my title.”
With this win, Moya grabbed 200 points on the ATP Champions Tour Rankings and closed the gap between him and the current world number one, Mark Philippoussis.
Finishing in third in the event was Frenchman Forget as he secured a 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Wilander. The Old Ones now make their way to Chengdu in October where they will be joined by former world number one Marat Safin in his debut appearance and 2010 runner-up and American legend, Pete Sampras.
Tags: