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Carles Moyà Llompart (born August 27, 1976, in Palma de Mallorca,
Spain) (also known as Carlos Moyà and Carlos Moyá) is a former
World No. 1 professional tennis player. During his career, he has won the
French Open, finished runner-up at the Australian Open, and helped Spain
win the Davis Cup.
Moyà began playing tennis at the age of six. He turned
professional in 1995 and won his first tour title later that year in Buenos
Aires.
In 1997, Moyà reached his first Grand Slam final at
the Australian Open, where he lost in straight sets to Pete Sampras 6-2,
6-3, 6-3.
In 1998, Moyà won the French Open. He defeated fellow-Spaniard
Álex Corretja in the final in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. He also
won his first Tennis Masters Series that year at Monte Carlo. He concluded
the year by finishing runner-up at the ATP World Championships (now known
as the Tennis Masters Cup), where he lost in a five-set final to Corretja
3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5.
In March 1999, after finishing runner-up at Indian Wells,
Moyà reached the World No. 1 singles ranking. He held the top spot
for two weeks. Later that year, he entered the French Open as defending champion,
and lost in the fourth round to Andre Agassi (who would go on to be that
year's champion). At the US Open, Moyà retired in the second round
with a back injury and only played in two tournaments for the rest of the
year.
In 2000, despite being hampered with a stress fracture in
his lower back from the 1999 US Open through to the early part of 2000, Moyà
still managed to finish in world's Top 50 for the fifth straight year. He
reached the fourth round of the US Open, where he held a match point in the
fourth set but eventually lost to Todd Martin in an epic five-set marathon
6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 7-6, 6-2. Moyà's best result rest of 2000 was finishing
runner-up at Toulouse.
In 2001, Moyà won his first title for three years
at Umag. He also finished runner-up at Barcelona, where he lost in a four-hour,
nine-minute marathon final to countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero 4-6, 7-5, 3-6,
6-3, 7-5.
2002 saw Moyà win four titles from six finals. He
captured his second career Tennis Masters Series title at Cincinnati, where
he defeated the then-World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the final 7-5, 7-6.
Moyà captured three clay court titles in 2003. He
also helped Spain reach the final of the Davis Cup, compiling a 6-0 singles
record. In the semi-finals, he won the deciding rubber against Gaston Gaudio
as Spain beat Argentina 3-2. He beat Mark Philippoussis on grass in the final.
But that proved to be Spain's only point as they lost the final 3-1 to Australia.
In 2004, Moyà helped Spain go one better and win the
Davis Cup. In the final, he won two critical singles rubbers against Andy
Roddick and Mardy Fish, as Spain beat the United States 3-2. 2004 also was
Moyà capture his third career Masters Series title at Rome. He was
the only player on the tour to win at least 20 matches on both clay courts
and hardcourts that year.
Moya won his 18th career title in January 2005 at Chennai.
He donated his prize money for the win to the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake
victims.
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