Unseeded Philippoussis Is Best, Even if Moya’s No. 1

The winner was happy, well, at winning the biggest title of his career.

The loser certainly did not feel like a loser, saying it was “weird” that this was the greatest moment of his life.

And the crowd got to see the final men’s singles final at Grand Champions Resort go the distance, as unseeded Mark Philippoussis of Australia defeated fourth-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, in 2 hours 58 minutes in the Newsweek Champions Cup on Sunday.

It was the first five-set singles final here since Pete Sampras defeated Petr Korda in 1994. Next year, the event will be held about a mile and a half away, so perhaps it was fitting that the final weekend here was filled with several memorable highlights, among them:

--Seventeen-year-old Serena Williams winning her second consecutive tournament, and 11th match in a row, defeating Steffi Graf in a three-set thriller in the final.

--The 22-year-old Moya becoming the first Spaniard and 15th player in the history of the ATP rankings to be ranked No. 1. He supplanted Sampras and will begin his first week at No. 1 today when the rankings are released, leading Sampras by 37 points.

--Philippoussis fulfilling his vast potential, winning his second tournament of 1999 and improving his season record to 14-2, a career best. The fast-improving 22-year-old will be ranked 11th, another career high. His only losses in 1999 were to Thomas Enqvist at the Australian Open in five sets and to Daniel Nestor in February at Memphis.

“A lot of people mature quicker than others,” said Philippoussis, who earned $361,000 for the victory. “I’m just a slow maturer. I love having fun. I’m a big kid. I just had a lot of other things on my mind.”

Moya was still on the No. 1 high, and didn’t treat the loss like a crash landing. In his mind, he was still jumping up and down 10 times with his coach and trainer in what was a memorable celebration on Saturday.

“It is good I can be No. 1, and I’ve won a Grand Slam,” said Moya, the reigning French Open champion. “Nobody who becomes No. 1 didn’t deserve it. It’s work for a year, you know, not one week. It’s 52 weeks, so that means you cannot be lucky. I know there’s going to be many people saying I don’t deserve it. But I proved I did.

“Who says so, doesn’t know the game.”

Two hours after his semifinal victory against Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil elevated him to the top spot in the world, Moya called his parents at home in Mallorca, Spain.

“They were crying and they told me that the people in the house were all crying,” he said Sunday. “It made me cry too.”

What was he thinking at match point against Kuerten?

“I don’t remember,” he said, laughing. “Don’t ask me because I don’t know. So many things come to your brain, so many people.”

He is 0-3 against Philippoussis but thought he played much better than he did in a four-set loss at the U.S. Open semifinals in September.

“I think I have played the best match that I ever played against him, but still I didn’t beat him,” Moya said. “Hopefully next time I will.

“At least today I’ve seen the way to beat him, even if I didn’t.

Philippoussis had 23 aces and 11 double faults, and he sealed the victory in trademark fashion, firing an 129-mph ace down the middle on match point. Though he broke Moya twice in the decisive fifth set, he got to that point by not losing his own serve in the second and third sets, fighting off four break points.

“The key to the match was the third set, and I had some break points to lead 5-3, but I didn’t take any of them,” Moya said.

Said Philippoussis: “Don’t get me wrong, I was tired out there. I didn’t want to make it seem like I was tired. I kept my head up. My mental approach to the match, concentration, got me through at the end. I felt tougher, just hung in there.

“In the past, I would have broken down if it went to five, just mentally lost it in the fifth. That’s what has improved.”

This is quite a difference from the youngster who was on the verge of quitting tennis last year. Philippoussis pulled out of the 1998 slump by reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the final at the U.S. Open.

“I rang up my father [Nick] and said I wanted to book a flight to Florida,” he said. “I lost a lot of matches in row. I was very depressed at that stage. Sometimes you say things you don’t mean when you’re depressed.

“I’m happy I didn’t.”