Carlos Moya in action in Chennai on Tuesday

Chennai: The newly-installed giant screen overlooking the outside courts at the Nungambakkam Stadium beamed live pictures of Rafael Nadal playing Rainer Schuettler on centre court. It suited newsmen fine, because Karan Rastogi — in action on court I — was giving them enough reasons not to rush off to Nadal’s match.

Rastogi repaid the journalists’ faith fully, as well as the organisers’, who had granted him a wild card for the third time here. His 6-3, 6-4 win over Brazilian Thiago Alves was not only his first Tour success (in his fourth main draw appearance), it also set up a dream date with none other than Nadal.

The world No.2 from Spain had a slightly tougher passage to the round-of-16 than the crowd would have expected him to. The top seed, resplendent in a yellow top and green capris, overcame a 2-4 deficit in the first set before packing off 2003 Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 6-2.

Late into the evening, it was Kristian Pless who caused the biggest ripple when he won 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to show second seed and world No.8 David Nalbandian the door. The Argentine, who lost in two and a half hours after looking very sharp in the first set, must have been left rueing why he broke a tradition and decided to play in the first week of the year.

Even in the deciding set, former Wimbledon finalist Nalbandian was 3-0 in front. But Pless, who had never previously got the measure of a top-10 player, didn’t give up and ran the Argentine ragged to carve out a momentous win.

“I felt very good in the first set but as the match wore on, felt uncomfortable because of tendinitis on my left leg... the depth and power in my shots suffered,” was how Nalbandian explained the shock defeat.

A delighted Pless said he was happy to have pulled one back after two defeats against Nalbandian. “I lost two close matches to him in Beijing... I'm glad I finally won one.”

Back to the Rastogi story and his coming of age. Though competition in ITF Futures events doesn’t in any way compare with the standard on the ATP Tour, Rastogi clearly fed off the confidence he gained from his title triumph last week.

Considered the best Indian talent after the Bopannas and Amritrajs, Rastogi had been hovering on the threshold of a major breakthrough for about two years. On Tuesday evening, he came out guns blazing to outhit and outplay an opponent ranked more than 300 spots higher (400-something against 106).

It was a real slugfest from the baseline. If Rastogi won, it was because he hurt the constantly grunting Alves with a stinging double-fisted backhand, which he fired accurately and consistently.

With neither too keen to come up to the net, the drop-shots were used off and on. In this department, too, Rastogi was the smarter player. He used the shot more judiciously and even read Alves’ mind better to retrieve most of those the Brazilian employed.

Rastogi turned on the heat from the middle of the first set after the two traded breaks in the opening two games. Alves’ serve was under pressure and he caved in with a double-fault to go 2-4 in arrears. Rastogi’s concentration wavered somewhat as he tried to serve out the second set. But he did well to see off a couple of break-points and go one up.

The Indian looked to be heading for a super quick finish as he raced to 4-1 in set 2 with two service breaks. Then he stuttered and let the Brazilian draw level at 4-4. It was a test of character as much as temperament, and Rastogi showed he was not one to let this opportunity go by.

Earlier, Carlos Moya’s Chennai chemistry worked to perfection. The 30-year-old Spaniard, seeded No.5, played solid tennis to quell German Alexander Waske’s challenge 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Playing his first competitive match in two months, the two-time champion looked a tad rusty to begin with. Much to the delight of his big band of supporters, Moya didn’t take too long to find his rhythm.

The reflexes and speed may have slowed down a bit, but the trusted forehand can still be lethal, as Waske must have found out. The tall German, a year older than Moya and pretty much an average journeyman, had won their only meeting almost five years ago. On this day, though, he wasn’t given a whiff after those early minutes when they broke each other once.