The Chennai crowd got what they came and paid for: a final pitting two of their favourites — Paradon Srichaphan and Carlos Moya. Meanwhile, losers Tomas Zib and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez enacted their support roles to perfection, leaving the stars on stage for the Super Sunday show.Srichaphan struggled initially before steadying himself against Zib’s strong backhand to win 7-6 (5-1), 6-3. Srichaphan admitted after the match that Zib was a different kind of opponent and he needed to change his style to counter him.Zib, who last played and lost to the No 2 seed way back in 1999 in a Vietnam Challenger, summed up his loss thus: ‘‘Too many unforced errors.’’After the ‘Paradon, Paradon’ chorus from the crowd, it was time for the ‘Moya, Moya’ chant. In a battle of Spaniards, Moya was made to sweat against his sparring partner in the Davis Cup.The cool and composed Moya, eight years older to Guillermo and ranked 123 places higher than his Albacete-based countryman, simply brushed whatever little challenge that was there to shut him out with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (2) win. ‘‘Playing your own countryman is always tough and he had nothing to lose,’’ said Moya of Garcia-Lopez’s game.The Moya-Srichaphan final thus meant a second meeting for them both at the Chennai Open after the former triumphed last year.
