The two Spaniards had vowed to put their off-court friendship behind them for the final in Hong Kong.

"I wanted to play better than last year," said Ferrero, who was knocked out in the quarter-finals in 2001.

The pair unloaded a barrage of ferocious groundstroke winners during their two-hour battle at Victoria Park.

Ferrero's unfaltering self-belief and a few moments of timely good fortune were all that separated them.

The second seed finally sealed the decisive tie-break with a searing ace down the middle to pick up the $51,000 (�33,000) winner's cheque.

A disappointed Moya felt he had let victory slip through his grasp.

"In the beginning of the third set, I was 1-1 and 40-love and made some stupid mistakes and he broke my serve. I broke back but the momentum was gone.

"When you get into a tie-breaker in the third set anything can happen.

"I think we both deserved to win today but in tennis there can only be one winner and today was his day."