January 18, 2025
By Monica Holt
Sunday Star Times

Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty ended the fairytale for young Spaniard Rafael Nadal in a heart-stopping three-set final in the Heineken Open in Auckland yesterday.

Hrbaty, the 2001 winner, forced Nadal to run so much in his first ATP Tour final he wore out a shoe halfway through the 138-minute match.

Play was stopped for several minutes while Nadal fetched a new pair when down 2-5 in the second set.

It was all part of Hrbaty's game plan - to run the youngster from side to side, unsettling his aggressive cross-court game.

"I knew he has to run all over the court, I knew if I made mistakes it would not matter," said Hrbaty.

"I didn't give him the chance to hit two, three, four times the same shot because then he starts to hit the angles."

Nadal, who destroyed second seed Jiri Novak on his way to the final, won the first set 6-4 after being down 2-4.

Both players made an uncharacteristic number of unforced errors considering their form during the week.

Hrbaty won the second set 6-2 as Nadal's serve proved a weak link after they were tied 2-2.

Nadal took a 3-0 lead in the deciding set.

But the Slovakian fought back, taking the set 7-5 in an exciting finale.

Hrbaty drew parallels with his 2001 win.

"For me it was a similar final to 2001 (when) I played with Francisco Clavet. He was also a left-hander and we played some amazing rallies and today it was even harder.

"It was one of the toughest matches and closest finals."

Hrbaty came to Auckland hot from an ATP tour win in Adelaide last week.

He goes into this week's Australian Open as the points leader on the ATP Tour and he is enjoying it while it lasts.

"It is nice but it is only the beginning of the year. If this was the end year I would say `OK, let's go celebrate'."

The win was in front of a sellout ASB Tennis Centre Stadium crowd.

"This was the first time in the three finals I have played in the stadium (it) was competely packed," said Hrbaty.

It was Hrbaty's sixth visit here.

"The first time the cut was around 80, now it is 63 - the tournament is getting stronger."

Like many on the tour, Hrbaty thinks Nadal has a bright future.

"It seems like he is going to be a great player, one of the big Spaniards who can win tournaments on clay. He fights all the way which is very important in tennis."

Hrbaty is not getting too cocky about his back-to-back wins as he looks ahead to the Australian Open.

"It is a shame in tennis you have to always build from the beginning," he said.

"You can build up something and all of a sudden it is good and you have to start from zero."

Nadal thanked the Auckland crowd after the match as they had rallied behind the youngster all week.

"I want to say thanks for everything. It wasn't my best game here, but it was a fantastic match."

In the doubles, top seeds Fabrice Santoro of France and Mahesh Bhupathi of India won a three-set final against Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, 4-6 7-5 6-3.

The first-time pairing looked out for the count at 4-6 and 3-5 down in the second set, but fought back.