No. 1!
Moya makes Champions final; Williams wins Evert Cup
Posted: Saturday March 13, 1999 09:41 PM
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After skipping around the court, Serena Williams takes a quiet moment to pose with her trophy. AP |
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) -- Carlos Moya did a weird little dance with his coach and trainer, then, spraying champagne, leaped into a spa a few minutes later.
Serena Williams joyfully skipped across the court like the teen-ager she is, hugged her father and sister, and eagerly looked forward to a promised visit to a fast-food restaurant.
The exuberance of youth was on display Saturday as Moya, 22, replaced Pete Sampras atop the men's world rankings, and Williams, 17, upset Steffi Graf.
Moya, the 1998 French Open champion, defeated Gustavo Kuerten 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in a Newsweek Champions Cup semifinal to bolt ahead of Sampras in the point standings. Sampras lost in the second round of the tournament.
Moya joined hands with coach Jose Perlas and trainer Luis Miguel Morales and the trio jumped awkwardly together.
"That was the promise we made each other, that if I become No. 1, we jump 10 times," said Moya, the first Spaniard to top the men's rankings. "Maybe it didn't look like we were jumping, but that's what we were doing."
Williams, who has been overshadowed by sister Venus, 18, won for the second time in a week as she wore down Graf, winner of 21 grand slam titles, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in the Evert Cup final.
"This is the biggest tournament I've ever won," said Williams, whose only other career victory was Feb. 28 in Paris. "I know that I can win the big ones now."
Williams asked for an injury timeout when she was down 1-2 in the third set to have her sore right knee treated. She said after the match that there was inflammation in the knee and "I said to myself, 'If you're going to be a champion, you've got to learn to fight through it or quit.'"
She added that she had seen her doctor earlier in the week and "He said that if I won today, he was going to take me to McDonald's."
Moya played like No. 1 in the third set, refusing to fold after Kuerten, who was 3-0 against him lifetime, seemed to be taking charge by winning the final five games of the second set.
Moya came roaring back to win the next five games against his Brazilian opponent.
Moya vaulted from No. 4 to No. 1 with 3,484 points to Sampras' 3,447, and can add to that by winning Sunday's final against Mark Philippoussis.
Philippoussis rolled past Chris Woodruff 6-1, 6-2 in the other semifinal, a match of unseeded players.
Moya is the 15th player to hold the top spot since the ATP rankings began in 1973. He becomes the second Spanish player at No. 1 -- Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario earned the top ranking for women on Feb. 6, 1995 and remained there 12 weeks.
One of the first things Moya did after his victory was to call his family.
"My parents and my brother, they were almost crying," he said. "This is the moment we've always been waiting for. It's been today."
Sister Venus and dad Richard cheered from the stands as Serena Williams pounded away with her powerful serve and groundstrokes against Graf, 29, who tried to blunt the power with passing shots, spins and lobs.
It worked for Graf in the second set, as Williams began to spray shots beyond the lines, and Graf was up 4-3 in the third set before Williams broke back. Then at 5-5, Williams took charge, holding her serve then breaking Graf again to win.
"It means a lot to me because Steffi is a great champion," Williams said. "She has more titles than any man or lady [now active] in tennis. It's very exciting for me. I'm only 17 and I have a lot to look forward to."
The victory lifted Williams, who went into the tournament ranked 21st and beat No. 2 Lindsay Davenport in the second round, to 17th. Graf remained at No. 7.
Venus Williams, who also was a winner last week, at Oklahoma City, skipped singles in the Evert Cup because she and her sister decided to avoid playing each other whenever feasible. Venus Williams, No. 5 in the world, and her sister teamed for doubles, but were eliminated in the semifinals.
Both will play singles next week in the Lipton, in which Venus Williams is the defending champion.
Moya, a native of Mallorca, hadn't lost a set all week until lapsing briefly in the semifinal. He was ranked fifth in the world in 1998, having steadily moved up from 346th four years earlier.
Sampras, 27, has finished the season at No. 1 for the past six years.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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