Spaniard Carlos Moya became the highest-profile first-round casualty at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday after being bundled out by unheralded compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Fifth-seeded Moya never got going against his rising Davis Cup hitting partner Garcia-Lopez, ranked 106th in the world and revelling in underdog status on his Melbourne Park debut for a 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory in two hours and 43 minutes.
It was the biggest win of 21-year-old Garcia-Lopez’s career, with his only previous grand slam being a second-round appearance at last year’s French Open.
”It’s a big disappointment. It’s the first round,” Moya said. ”I was playing well before I came here. He played a great game and I think he’s gonna go higher in the rankings.”
Garcia-Lopez more than matched his higher-ranked opponent with powerful forehands to have the misfiring Moya under constant pressure.
Only two weeks ago, Moya played Garcia-Lopez for the first time in the semifinals of the ATP Madras tournament, winning on a tiebreaker in the final set on his way to winning the first ATP tournament of the year.
”I started today’s match pretty well and I had it under control, but when I was leading 3-1, love-40, and then 5-4 serving I played a horrible game.
”I lost control little bit and I lost the rhythm and made many mistakes with my forehand.
”And once he won the first set, he started to play better and I played worse and worse. Then I had no chance. He was playing better than me.”
The loss capped a dismal Australian campaign for 1997 Australian Open runner-up Moya after he was ditched out of the lead-up Sydney International by Czech Radek Stepanek last week, just days after his ATP Madras success over Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan.
Moya offered no excuses, saying his preparation in India had been perfect for the Open.
”I had a few days to recover. The last four, five days were okay and I had good practice. The loss has nothing to do with that.
”When you win the tournament, you get here more confident and with the rhythm. It was perfect preparation. But something was wrong today. It was not my day today.”
Garcia-Lopez now has a second-round encounter with American Kevin Kim. — Sapa-AFP