The cruelest aspect of sport is that no matter how well you fight, someone fights better.
Radek Stepanek, who admitted that later, played one of the best matches of his career and still had to finish second-best to Carlos Moya in the semi-finals of the Chennai Open on Saturday.
The second singles semi-final, between Kristof Vliegen and Ivan Ljubicic, was called off due to rain. The match will be played at 1200 IST on Sunday.
Also read: Amritraj-Bopanna in Chennai Open final
Moya, the defending champion, beat Czech Stepanek 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3) in the best match of the tournament so far.
"It was one of the most exciting matches I have played I was very close to losing but I am happy to win," said the Spaniard. "I think there is something about the Chennai crowd that makes me play my best tennis when I am down."
The spectators at the SDAT stadium held on to their places even after the brief showers suspended play for an hour. The players didn't disappoint, putting in amazing effort and fought right down to the last ball.
The last point that saw the players run down from the far corners, place drop shots and great passing shots ended in a deafening roar when Stepanek failed to get to the cross-court volley from Moya.
It was one match when the reality outgrew the expectations from it.
Stepanek had a clear strategy: to move the Spaniard away from his baseline post. He hit a flurry of drop shots and backhand slices to force Moya to the net. Though his plan paid off only in patches, the Czech was able to get Moya thinking.
After losing the first set, Stepanek stepped up the game in the second, putting the Moya serve under constant pressure. What lacked in the second set, as did in the entire game, was that Stepanek was unable to climb on to the opportunities and finish off on important points.
Moya ended up saving seven out of the seven break-points and taking the set to tie-break. The second-seeded Stepanek sneaked out of it a 7- 5 winner in the set that lasted for 72 minutes.
The third set was interrupted by rain at 1-0 on the Czech's serve, which he won after being 15-40 down.
"You know it's a new match after a break," said Stepanek, who tried to slug it out with Moya from the baseline. "I thought I didn't need to use the drop shots in the third set. I was playing good attacking tennis and played to my strengths."
Though Moya was clearly the crowd favourite, with the points getting closer, the people got behind both the players.
Moya was the cool, collected champion; Stepanek put a spring in his stride. The second seed endeared himself to the crowd with his hop and skip routine after winning a particularly tight point.
The turning point in the match came when Moya broke for 4-4, after he lost his serve in the previous game. With the Spaniard serving strong, Stepanek found it difficult to make any dents in those games. Moya's forehand, imparted with top-spin, was also working well for him.
The two-time champion in Chennai then kept his nerve in the tie-break to win game, set and match at 7-3.
"I played good tennis and that's what I will take back from the week," said Stepanek. "I never had such a beginning to my year and hope it continues."
Though he seemed disappointed not to have taken his chances, especially in the third set, Stepanek still left the court with a smile on his face and a big bow to the crowd. He hadn't lost after all.
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