Second seed Carlos Moya is knocked out in the first round by countryman Albert Portas, but top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero moves through in Sopot.
from the official ATP website
31 July 2003

Second seed Carlos Moya was knocked out in the first round of the Idea Prokom Open after losing to fellow Spaniard Albert Portas in a three-set battle in Sopot. Portas defeated the in-form Moya 7-6(4) 6-7(6), 7-5 to book his place in the second round against countryman Galo Blanco.
Moya, a three-time winner on the ATP circuit this year, was looking to add the Sopot crown to his Umag title last week. Moya’s 35-9 record on clay going into the match was the best on the circuit this year, but Portas, who reached the final in Sopot in 2001 and who won the first of their three previous meetings at Roland Garros in 1997, coped better with the windy conditions.

After coming back from 5-2 down in the second set, Moya saved three match points and then led 4-1 in the final set before Portas wrapped up an impressive victory on his sixth match point.

There was less trouble for top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, the ATP Champions Race 2003 leader who recorded a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Polish wild card Bartlomiej Dabrowski to move through to the second round and continue his push towards the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston.

Ferrero, the Roland Garros champion who has a 31-3 record on clay this year (46-9 overall) as well as titles at the Tennis Masters Monte-Carlo and Valencia, will now meet Czech qualifier Frantisek Cermak for a place in the quarterfinals. Cermak recorded a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Polish qualifier Filip Urban.

Meanwhile, fifth seed Filippo Volandri, who reached the final in Umag last week before losing to Moya, also went out in Sopot after suffering a 6-4, 6-0 defeat at the hands of Argentine Mariano Puerta.

In second round action, Sweden’s Andreas Vinciguerra upset No. 6 seed David Sanchez to move through to the quarterfinals at an ATP tournament for the second time this year (Doha). The Swede, who reached the third round at the Australian Open, came through 6-3, 6-4 and will now meet Spanish star David Ferrer, who upset No. 4 seed David Nalbandian 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach his third quarterfinal of the year (Auckland, Umag).

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Portas: “I think it was a tough match. I failed to convert three match points in the second set and another two in the final set before I managed to win the match. He was playing too well at the end of the second set and took a 4-1 lead in the third set. I started playing a lot better to pull off the win finally. It’s a good feeling to beat a player of Moya’s caliber. He’s a very good player and he has been in great form recently.

“In the next round, I will play Galo Blanco. He had a great match today, conceding just one game. He’s going to be feeling good here. Perhaps he is not a big a name like Moya, but he is still a very good player and I will have to play as well as I did today if I am going to win the match. The fact that I beat Moya today probably makes me the favorite, but that is not the key. It’s a different match and against a different opponent.”

Moya: “It was a close match. I had chances in first set but didn’t take them. He played the important points well and took a lead of 7-6 5-2. I then picked up my game and started turning things around by fighting back and winning the second set.

“I had some brilliant moments but there were points in the match were I lost my concentration. It is not easy to win a match at this level unless you are 100 percent focused on the court. Maybe if I was a little bit luckier, I would have won the match.

“With the rain over the last two days, I wasn’t able to practice enough and get a feel for the different conditions here. The balls and court are very good but different to Croatia, where I was playing last week. I could only hit for 15 minutes yesterday and 25 minutes this morning. That wasn’t enough unfortunately. Now I have some exciting tournaments ahead of me in Canada and the US. There should be some points to be won there in my race to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston.”

Ferrero: “The court and the balls were very slow so it was difficult to play with a lot of spin on the ball. It wasn’t easy to win free points off my serve and I had to keep the ball a bit flat during the rallies.

“I didn’t know anything about my opponent before the match. I just came to the court to try and play my best tennis and see what sort of game he had. He has a good first serve and runs for all the points. He played a very good first set but his game was not holding together as well in the second.

“It has been a good year for me. I have made the quarterfinals or better in most of the tournaments that I have played. My goal this year is to be No. 1 in the world and play at the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston. I also want to win another Grand Slam.”

Vinciguerra: “I was mentally prepared to come out on court and play for a couple of hours. Spanish players tend to fight very hard and keep a lot of balls in play. It was good to finish the match in two sets today.”

Volandri: “I was very tired, suffering from pain in my back and arm. He hits the ball very hard, harder than me. I also found it difficult to adjust my game having played in Umag. The balls and courts are so different. I couldn’t find the balls or the court today.”

Ferrer: “Physically, I was feeling great. I was playing very solidly and with great rhythm. I started the third set really pumped up. I was playing really well and took a 5-0 lead. I sensed he began to relax by that stage and started to hit the ball really well. I was still playing with the same rhythm and focus and finally served the match out. I defended well and that was the key to the match. He was attacking but I kept on getting the ball back in play, allowing him to make mistakes.

“I like this clay court swing very much. I tend to log some good results during this part of the year. I reached the quarterfinals in Umag last week, a tournament where I played the final in 2002.

“My goal now is to play more consistently throughout the year. I started the year off badly so my goal now is to end the season ranked 80 or 90 in the world and work from there.”

Nalbandian: “I don’t think I played badly. Ferrer was just playing extremely well. I was attacking, but he was keeping the ball in play. He is very strong and very fast, which makes for a very good clay court player.

“I wasn’t very focused at the start of the match and he took his chances. I found that really tough. I was making some mistakes in the important points. In the first game of the third set, he started really well and broke my serve. From there he took a 5-0 lead and although I made it 5-3, it was impossible to recover.”