Chela Completes Estoril Double
18 Apr, 2004
Chela Completes Estoril Double
Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela captured his first ATP title in nearly
two years after defeating Russia's Marat Safin in the final of the
Estoril Open.
Chela, the No. 5 seed whose two previous titles came on clay in Mexico
City in 2000 and Amersfoort in 2002, claimed the third championship of
his career with a 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-3 victory over the No. 8 seed in 2 hours,
24 minutes.
"I won singles and doubles, so it's like a dream," said Chela. "It was a
really tough match. I was a little bit nervous at the end and I'm really
happy that I have beaten Marat. He's one of the best players in the world,
so it's very important for me."
The win marked Chela's first career win against Safin, having lost all
three of their previous meetings. With the win, Chela receives 35 INDESIT
ATP 2004 Race points.
The victory completed a great tournament for Chela, who won the doubles
title with countryman Gaston Gaudio on Saturday. He became the first
player to win singles and doubles at the same tournament on the ATP
circuit this year, and the second player to achieve the feat in Estoril,
joining Emilio Sanchez (1990).
Chela also became the second Argentine winner at the Estadio Nacional in
the last three years, after David Nalbandian captured the title in 2002.
Safin, who was attempting to become the second consecutive Russian to
claim the title following Nikolay Davydenko's win last year, was appearing
in the 20th final of his career and his second of the season having lost
to Roger Federer at the Australian Open. Safin now has an 11-9 record in
finals on the ATP circuit. He was looking to capture his first title
since winning the ATP Masters Series event in Paris in 2002.
On what was a windy day in Estoril, Chela won the first three games
of the final and was seemingly cruising through the opening set before
Safin hit back to level matters at 3-3. In the 11th game, Safin broke
Chela's serve for the second time to serve for the set, but Chela broke
back immediately to force a tie-break. However, the Argentine could do
nothing to stop Safin, who took the opening set in 37 minutes after
winning the tie-break 7-2 when Chela served the fourth of his seven
double faults to lose his first set of the tournament.
Control
In the second set, Chela broke Safin's serve in the fifth game of the
second set as the Russian made a number of unforced errors. Safin's
frustration was clearly evident as he smashed his racquet and received
a second warning, resulting in a point penalty at the start of the next
game.
Chela then began to take control of the match, breaking Safin to love to
take the second set and opened up a 3-0 lead in the decider. Although
Safin got back on terms at 2-3, it was only a temporary reprieve as Chela
regained the initiative and served for the championship at 5-3. Although
Safin saved three match points, Chela sealed his victory when the Russian's
backhand sailed long.
"There were very though conditions because of the wind," said Chela.
"It looked like Marat had more trouble with that, especially in the
second set, and then I took my chances. I kept my plan for the match,
hitting his forehand. I knew it would be a long match so I never lost
my nerve."
A disappointed Safin said: "I had my chances in the second set but I
just couldn't take them. Then he got stronger and more solid. Maybe I
was looking for the fast way to win. Maybe I went for too much and I
put too much pressure on myself to win the second set. That's when I
started to make mistakes and got more and more frustrated."
But the Russian was optimistic about the upcoming clay court season.
"I have to be positive," he added. "These kind of losses, they can
upset you. But I have to look at it in a positive way. I went for
two and a half weeks without playing, and then I've beat Robredo
in a really tough match. So I'm playing well and I think at a good
level of tennis, so I'm looking forward and I'm satisfied with the
way I'm playing. I have to take it step by step."
--
(伊格拿西奧)
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