Thursday, November 18, 2004
HOUSTON (AP) -- Carlos Moya had to wait out a rain delay of nearly eight hours before beating Gaston Gaudio 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday night in the second round of the ATP Masters Cup Championships.
Top-seeded Roger Federer met Lleyton Hewitt in a late match.
Moya and Gaudio had to sit through persistent rain, thunderstorms and a tornado alert. Light sprinkles pelted the court as the match ended.
Moya was shaky with his serve in the first set, staving off three break points in the first game and two more in the fifth before he broke Gaudio in the sixth on the Argentine's forehand error.
The Spaniard went up a break in the fifth game of the second set, but Gaudio broke back in the sixth at the third point on Moya's forehand error.
Moya took control in the ninth game, breaking Gaudio at the second point when Gaudio's forehand sailed long. Gaudio smashed his racket on the court after the point.
Moya drove a forehand return of service down the line for a winner for force a double break point in the ninth game. Moya's service return error saved Gaudio one more point before the break.
Then Moya drove a forehand deep to the line at the first match point, catching Gaudio sliding in the other direction.
The victory gave Moya a 2-1 record in the Red Group of the tournament's round-robin format. Gaudio dropped to 0-2.
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