Rafa Nadal said on Sunday he is fit and ready for the Australian Open despite suffering a defeat in the ATP Chennai Open final.

Rafa to fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-0, 6-1 in a quick 58-minute final. The 21-year-old called for a trainer midway through the second set, but afterwards insisted he was not injured. "I am fine, there is nothing wrong with me," Rafa told AFP. "I called the trainer because I was feeling a bit tired."

"I look forward to going to Melbourne and training hard for the Australian Open. It is a tournament which interests me a lot." Rafa reached the quarter-final at the Open last year and is looking forward to progress beyond the fourth round in Melbourne.

Rafa 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. Nadal admitted returning to the court less than 24 hours after the gruelling encounter against Moya was tough.

"I was a bit tired, but Mikhail played unbelievable tennis and deserved to win. He was the better player today." "But I am not very worried. I think I played quite well in this tournament and am happy to have reached the final in the first one of the season."

"The good thing is I leave this tournament without any injury. It has been a good start to the year for me. I have had good practice."

On Sunday, Rafa didn't have much luck holding his serve or any of his three service games in the first set, which Youzhny won in just 24 minutes. Youzhny then broke Rafatwice -- in the fourth and sixth games of the second set -- before wrapping up the match on his own serve. It was Youzhny's fourth win in seven matches on hard courts against Rafa and earned him 68,800 dollars and 35 ATP race points in the season-opener in this southern Indian city. Rafa won 37,350 dollars and 24 points.

The Russian, who lost in the second round in his only other Chennai appearance in 2001, won his fourth ATP title."This victory is a present from Rafael," said Youzhny. "He could not move today, he could not play. Maybe he was tired after last night's match against Moya." "I did not think it would be so easy. I thought he would come back strongly in the second set but once I broke him in the fourth game, I knew I only had to ensure I did not make mistakes."

"I improved with every match in this tournament and I hope I continue the same way at the Australian Open," said the Russian, who has never progressed beyond the fourth round in Melbourne.