AUSTRALIAN Mark Philippoussis won the battle of the big servers when he fought back to beat veteran American Todd Martin in a quarterfinal of the Champions Cup.

Martin had Philippoussis on the ropes in the second set, but the 24yearold US Open runnerup regained his composure with a series of stinging passing shots, deep baseline blasts and thumping serves to win 36, 75, 61. Philippoussis hit 38 winners, including 11 aces, to rattle Martin.

``Todd was playing quite comfortably and then I came up with some big serves in the second set and got into a rhythm,'' Philippoussis said. ``Once I broke him to go up 56 in the second set and then broke him to open the third set, I felt comfortable,'' added the Australian, who now turns his big serve on US qualifier Chris Woodruff, who needed a wildcard to get into the tournament.

Woodruff, whose ranking plummeted out of the top 500 after a knee injury, surprised seventh seed Briton Tim Henman 61, 16, 75 to earn the semifinal clash.

Woodruff was spared a date with Pete Sampras in the previous round by Spaniard Felix Mantilla's stunning upset of the top seed. Not one to waste such a momentous gift, Woodruff took Mantilla out in straight sets before beating the talented Henman.

French Open champion Carlos Moya, meanwhile, moved within one victory of supplanting Sampras as the topranked player in the world with a confident 64, 64 victory over 12thseeded Slovakian Karol Kucera.

Fourthseeded Moya needs only to beat unseeded former French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten to ensure his ascension to No.1.

Serena Williams powered past France's Sandrine Testud 75, 60, avenging a thirdround Australian Open loss and reaching the final of the Evert Cup tennis tournament at Indian Wells.

Williams, 17, who won her first WTA Tour title in Paris last month, stretched her current winning streak to 10. Williams, of the US, will meet veteran Steffi Graf, of Germany, in the final.

The Australian had no problems beating American qualifier Chris Woodruff 6-1, 6-2 in their semi-final yesterday but few people, least of all Moya, would have noticed.

They were too busy celebrating the Spaniard's rise to the No.1 ranking, taking over from Pete Sampras with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 semi-final win earlier in the day over Gustavo Kuerten, his first victory over the Brazilian in five meetings.

Having started the tournament at No.4, Moya, 22, becomes the 15th man to reach No.1 since the ATP rankings began in 1973. He ended Sampras' streak of 29consecutive weeks on top, with the American only eight weeks shy of Ivan Lendl's record of 270weeks as world No.1.

But it's a tall order for Moya to get his feet back on the ground for today's title battle with Philippoussis in the $3.86million tournament. Philippoussis has lost only two of 15matches this year and won in San Jose last month.

``I cannot describe in words how I'm feeling,'' said Moya, who is the first Spaniard to top the ATP rankings. Compatriot Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is a former women's world No.1.

``I didn't win the tournament yet, but you have to understand this is the greatest moment of my life.''

But yesterday, after dutifully picking up his racquet for his first official assignment as the top-ranked player, Moya had his new crown rudely knocked askew by Australian Mark Philippoussis in the final of the Champions Cup.

Moya, who is guaranteed a two-week reign at the top, and Philippoussis, who will move to a career-high 11th, fought in the searing desert sun for nearly three hours before Philippoussis won 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

``I think I have played the best match that I ever played against him, but I still didn't beat him,'' said Moya, whose 0-3 record against Philippoussis includes a contentious semi-final loss at the 1998 US Open.

The 22-year-old Moya, who picked up his first grand slam title at last year's French Open, became the first Spanish man to earn the top ranking by prevailing over Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in their semi-final on Saturday. But dealing with the heavy artillery of the unseeded Philippoussis was too taxing.

``To be No.1 and then win the title on top of that, it would have been the perfect beginning,'' said Moya, who was seeded fourth here. ``But today he's better than me, so that's it. He has a great serve.''

Living up to his reputation as a purveyor of ballistic serves, Philippoussis had three aces in the final game of the match. His impudent parting shot at Moya was a 206kmh ace, his 23rd of the confrontation.

Philippoussis described himself as a slow bloomer after earning his seventh career title and his first in one of the ATP Tour's showcase events.

``I'm a big kid, a slow maturer,'' he said. ``I just had a lot of other things on my mind. I love having fun.'' Philippoussis was pondering premature retirement last spring until, coaxed to test his serve-and-volley prowess at Wimbledon by his fellow Australians John Newcombe and Pat Cash, he reached the quarter-finals.

Now coached by Gavin Hopper, a fitness fanatic, and Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion, Philippoussis has declared himself mature enough to take on, outwork and possibly even outlast the likes of Moya.

``I've been working hard the last few months, concentrating on the court, just been fighting and enjoying the challenge, I'd have to say,'' said Philippoussis, whose 14-2 start this season is the best of his career. ``I think what's improved for me is just my self-belief. In the past I would have broken down if it went to five, sort of not gave it to him, but just mentally lost it in the fifth.''

Instead, it was Moya who felt his resolve cave in after Philippoussis broke him in the third game of the fifth set. A weary, frazzled and unconvincing passing shot that buried itself in the net allowed Philippoussis a 2-1 lead.

Moya lost his serve again to trail by 5-2 when he barreled an easy forehand out of bounds at break point.

- New York Times