Making an astonishing comeback from the brink of defeat, defending champion Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand pipped fourth seed Spaniard Tommy Robredo 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 to make his third final appearance in the Tata Open ATP Championship at Chennai.
The second-seeded Thai was facing an embarrassing defeat after tamely losing the first set in just 20 minutes, but egged on by a near capacity crowd saved as many as six match points in the next two sets to outlast the Spaniard in a nail-biting two-and-half hour semifinal on the centre court.
Robredo held the edge throughout the match playing an attacking game as Srichaphan failed to get his magic touch and his potent forehand let him down for once while his serve returns left much to be desired.
After staving off four match points in the tie-break of the second set which went on serves, punctuated by some breathtaking shots from both the players, the Asian No.1, ranked 11th on the ATP list, clinched the set to stay in the match.
He then found his touch in the latter half of the intensely-fought decider, breaking Robredo in the 11th game before serving out the match in style, just conceding one point
The semifinals, which featured all the top four seeds for the first time since the 2002 San Jose ATP event, former World No.1 Moya broke Schalken once each in both the sets as he dominated the match with good all-round tennis.
Moya, who has been getting better and better with every match since his tough second round against Paul Goldstein, won the baseline duel with the Dutch man with incisive ground strokes as he broke the latter in the sixth game of the first set.
After the games went on serves till the eighth game in the second set, Moya, who became the lone survivor from the 10 strong Spanish Armada in the main draw, came up with good winners, especially his backhad down the line when he broke Schalken in the ninth game of the second set, had class written all over it.
Moya on his first appearance in 1999 had lost in the quarterfinal to Rainer Schulttler of Germany, served well, sending down as many as 14 aces compared to nil by his rival as his first serve points percentage stood at a whooping 97 per cent.
Moya later said it was his best match of the tournament.
"I am pleased with the way I played. To start a year with a final is great. I was practicing well and hope I maintain at this level."
Asked about the final, he said if he served the way he did today, it would be difficult for Srichaphan to break him.
On his goal for the year, Moya, who became the first Spaniard to become the World No.1 in 1999, said he wanted to be in the Masters Cup. "Right now I am playing well and I am happy with the way things are going. My goal is to be in the Masters Cup," he said.
