Youzhny stuns Nadal

Russian Mikhail Youzhny salutes the crowd after beating Spaniard world number two Rafael Nadal in the Chennai Open final yesterday.Photo: AFP

Fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny demolished world number two Rafael Nadal in straight sets to win the 436,000-dollar ATP Chennai Open title here on Sunday.
The 19th-ranked Russian won 6-0, 6-1 against the lacklustre Spaniard in a disappointing 58-minute final before 4,000 fans on centre court of the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium.
It was Youzhny's fourth win in seven matches on hard courts against Nadal and earned him 68,800 dollars and 35 ATP race points in the season-opener in this southern Indian city.
Nadal, who called for the trainer midway through the second set, won 37,350 dollars and 24 points.
Nadal looked exhausted after his marathon semi-final against compatriot Carlos Moya on Saturday which lasted three hours and 54 minutes as all three sets went into tie-breaks.
It was the longest three-set match since 1993 when Andrei Cherkasov beat Andrea Gaudenzi in the quarter-finals of the Tel Aviv Open over the same duration.
On Sunday, Nadal failed to hold any of his three service games in the first set, which Youzhny won in just 24 minutes.
Youzhny then broke his rival twice -- in the fourth and sixth games of the second set -- before wrapping up the match on his own serve.