Carlos Moya finally ran out of gas in his quest for the hat-trick of titles at the Chennai Open, conceding the championship to the last minute wild-card entrant Ivan Ljubicic.
Moya, who came out of four tough three-set matches on a trot, was defeated 7-6, 6-2 by top seed Ljubicic, cutting short his 14-match winning streak in Chennai.
"It is the first time I am winning a tournament in the first week of the year," said Ljubicic. "It really is fantastic and I am happy I came here rather than practicing in Monte Carlo. The organisation here was very good and showed how ready the tournament is."
The pressures of a busy week showed on Moya as he struggled to keep pace with the marauding Ljubicic in the second set. The Croat, who completed his semi-final game earlier in the day after it was delayed due to rain on Saturday, overpowered Moya to run out a clear winner.
"I don't know when was the last time I played two matches in a day but I guess it helped me get into a good rhythm," said Ljubicic. "I was ready straight away for the match, I think that was the key. Physically I was very good."
With both players having a strong serve; the chances for a break were few in the first set. Like in his semi-final game against Kristof Vliegen in the afternoon, Ljubicic had a slow start to the tie-break, slipping 4-0 down.
The turning point in the game came with Ljubicic 5-6 down. He saved the set point with an ace and then served another at 220 kmph to set up a set point.
"He is so confident of his serves that when he is down he serves an ace," said Moya after the match. "He was changing direction well. He has improved a lot from the baseline and is a very complete player now."
Moya, put under pressure, served a double fault to hand over the tie-break 8-6 and the set after 58 minutes.
Once into the second set, Ljubicic took over from the baseline. Moya, who generally thrives on his stamina and speed, was slowing down and not hitting as many balls. He was stretched in the first game of the second set, which went for 13 minutes, and was broken in the next.
His first serves were sometimes coming in at 160 kmph, which helped Ljubicic set up points with a strong return.
The Croat was also now drawing Moya forward, to make him commit an error on the volley. He was also able to slug it out with Moya with strong groundstrokes and make him move side to side.
Ljubicic broke him in the fifth game too, to go 4-1 up and hardly gave the Spaniard any chance to come back.
"I was happy that I was dictating the tempo; it is very difficult to do that with Carlos. When you do that you know you have the control and it is up to you to make it happen."
Runner-up Moya earned prize money of USD 30,600 while Ljubicic won USD 52,000.
