Moya Wins Italian Open

Hearts leap whenever Carlos Moya hits deep into the corners. It happened a lot Sunday in the clay pit called Il Foro Italico, where Moya, a Spaniard, brought sighs and shrieks from the audience of 7,300.

“[Carlos] is so hot, and he can play, too,” said Brye Leary, a fan from San Francisco. Sitting next to her, Andrea Runge agreed. “Yeah, he’s the only guy who belongs in those sleeveless shirts.”

And rising above a 14-8 record at the Foro, Moya showed he belongs as champion of the Italian Open, defeating Argentine David Nalbandian, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

In doing so, Moya displayed an arsenal much broader than in 1998, when he won the French Open as a 21-year-old. His powerful, varied shotmaking for an hour-and-three-quarters made Nalbandian seem defenseless.

Moya, who is 6-3, 190 pounds, succeeds countryman Felix Mantilla, who won last year. Nalbandian, a 2002 Wimbledon finalist and a 2003 U.S. Open semifinalist, had hoped to be the first Argentine champ since Alberto Mancini beat Andre Agassi in 1989. But Moya “had all his lights on,” Nalbandian said. “There was nothing I could do.”

Those lights enhanced the lone sunny day of a chilly, wet week.

A Belarus-India pairing, Max Mirnyi and Mahesh Bhupathi, took the doubles title, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, over Aussies Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley, who had eliminated U.S. Davis Cup players Mike and Bob Bryan of Camarillo in the semis, 6-4, 6-1.

Agassi, the one American to win here in the last decade (2002), but a first-round loser to David Ferrer last year, was absent. Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt were quickly gone, to Guillermo Canas and Andrei Pavel respectively, as was No. 1 Roger Federer, taken out by Spaniard Albert Costa. American Vince Spadea made it to the quarterfinals, but was done in by Nalbandian. That led to a Spanish-speaking final four, unprecedented in the 74-year-old tournament: Nalbandian over Costa and Moya over Argentine Mariano Zabaleta.

Moya was a mix master Sunday. His forehand (17 winners) had differing trajectories, spins and speeds, punishing Nalbandian’s second serve. A lifelong baseliner, Moya didn’t hesitate to rush the net. He produced points on all seven drop shots. His varying backhand slice added to the pot.

“I’m adapting now, looking for openings to attack. I’m not the same player that won the French,” Moya said. “I’m playing with much confidence.”

Serving for the opening set at 5-3, he knocked away a break point with a forehand. Then he took it to set point for himself with the heaviest serve of his life, a 130-mph ace, closing on a forehand approach and volley.

He broke Nalbandian with a drop-shot winner to start the second set. A seven-game surge, lifting him to 5-0 in the third, was punctuated by a shot that brought down the house.

Spinning and off-balance during a furious exchange, Moya pulled a seldom seen “wicket” shot out of his tennis bag. Nalbandian struck the ball directly at him, appearing to freeze Moya and end the point. But Moya whipped his racket behind his back and half-volleyed the ball as it was zipping between his legs.

“It just happened, I don’t know how,” Moya said, laughing. “The ball was coming at me. I didn’t have a chance to play a regular shot.”

But the point wasn’t yet finished. Nalbandian responded by poking a lob over Moya’s head, another seeming winner.

An extraordinary vertical leap was called for, and Moya delivered an overhead that won the point.

That’s the kind of matinee it was for leading-man Moya.