Tennis: Hrbaty soars through Spaniard's faulty radar

By TERRY MADDAFORD


Travel plans held the key to Dominik Hrbaty's come-from-behind win in Auckland.

On one side of the net for Saturday's Heineken Open final was irrepressible Spaniard Rafael Nadal; on the other, eight-year tour veteran Hrbaty.

Nadal had a ticket for an afternoon flight to Melbourne; Slovak Hrbaty a more sedate early Sunday morning booking.

And it showed.

Nadal, a 17-year-old in a hurry but obviously destined for great things, wanted it over quickly.

In his haste he forgot to switch his radar on. Too many early shots whistled over the baseline or out of court wide.

He dropped his opening serve and remained on the backfoot until the eighth game when he broke Hrbaty for 4-4, held for 5-4 and, in a quick-fire 10th game, broke again, converting the second of three set points.

With the first set out of the way inside 45 minutes, the pair traded the opening games of the second.

This was a match of contrasting styles between players with no pretence of producing rocket-like serves. Their preference was to get the ball in play and go to work.

Hrbaty, with the high ball toss, wastes no time. Grab the ball and get on with it.

Nadal, who has learned his craft quickly, is the master of slowing it down.

A quick tug on his socks, a towel down between points and then the selection of balls before tapping one - a la Agassi - away, a couple of bounces and eventually the serve.

In play, the balls whizzed back and forth, but without Nadal ever quite reproducing the wizardry which a day earlier had got him past second seed Jiri Novak and into his first ATP final.

At 2-2 in the second set Hrbaty applied the pressure.

He raced quickly to 5-2, breaking Nadal twice - at which point he called for a break, claiming to have "blown out" the sole of one of his shoes.

The change of shoes changed little. Hrbaty served the eighth game to love for 6-2.

The third set gave Nadal's supporters some hope when he held in games one and three and broke unseeded Hrbaty in the second.

At 0-3, Hrbaty found the nerve, and the game, to turn it around.

He reeled off three straight games then traded service to 5-5, broke Nadal, also unseeded, in the next before serving for the match.

At 15-15 he served his only ace. He dropped the next point but won the next for match point.

Nadal saved that but when he fired a forehand into the net, the 2h 16m battle was over.

Hrbaty, in stretching his unbeaten run to 10 matches this year, became the first player in more than 20 years to win a second Open title. He won his first in 2001.

"I was very tired," said Hrbaty, who celebrated his 26th birthday this month. "He gave me a tough time. He made me run all over the court.

"After losing the first set I said to myself, 'Come on boy, you have to fight, there is no trophy for coming second,' and dug deeper. Last week in Adelaide I played my very best final ever.

"But this was one of the toughest and closest finals I've played," said Hrbaty, who remains one of the most popular players to play in Auckland.

"I had a couple of games where I served well, but then lost the rallies. I got tired and didn't feel good on the court.

"It hasn't been easy playing almost every day. It is mentally tough to play 10 matches in not even 14 days. "I never give up. I will always fight."

Nadal would attest to that.

"This was my first final. I was a bit nervous and a lot tired," the teenager said. "I did not play like the day before. My body was tired, that's why I could not hit the ball with power.

"Dominik started very good. But I played very well to win the first set."

Nadal dismissed his lack of finals experience as a reason for losing.

"I have played seven finals in Challengers and some Futures."

Asked if tennis fans were likely to see him back at the Open, Nadal said: "There is a good chance."

Road to the final

* Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia)

Bt M. Nielsen (NZ) 6-3, 6-2.

Bt G. Corgia (Argentina) walkover.

Bt P. Kohlschreiber (Germany) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Bt G. Kuerten (Brazil) 6-3, 6-2.


* Rafael Nadal (Spain)

Bt S. Schalken (Netherlands) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Bt M. Ancic (Croatia) 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (8-6).

Bt G. Carraz (France) 2-1 retired.

Bt J. Novak (Czech Rep) 6-1, 6-3.


* Final: Hrbaty bt Nadal 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.