Karan makes Nadal sweat

Opportunities like getting to play the second-best player in the world on centre court in front of a packed stadium, with the home crowd cheering every winner off your racquet

Opportunities like getting to play the second-best player in the world on centre court in front of a packed stadium, with the home crowd cheering every winner off your racquet, are few and far between for an Indian ranked No 480 in the world. It was Karan Rastogi8217;s big day today and boy, what a gallant effort the journeyman put up against two-time French Open champion and top seed Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard won 6-4, 6-1.

The Mallorcan, who will now take on Italian Davide Sanguinetti 8212; who upset French eighth seed Nicolas Mahut 7-6 6, 3-6, 6-3 8212; for a place in the last four was all praise for his opponent. 8220;He has a good backhand and he is fast on court. It was a difficult win today,8221; Nadal told reporters at the post-match conference, before adding: 8220;It8217;s easier when you are playing under zero pressure.8221;

The Mumbaikar gave it all he had, chased down every ball and came up with a few spectacular cross-court volleys. Not many would have expected Rastogi to put up such a brave fight, including the player himself. 8220;Yeah, I did better than I expected. I was just hoping that I don8217;t get kicked around badly,8221; smiled Rastogi.

The first set saw some good, clean hitting by the Indian. With no pressure on him, the underdog played a very tight game, matching the energetic Spaniard stroke for stroke. Unfortunately, it was a few errors made at crucial junctures that did the Indian in. With the score reading 4-4 in the opening set, a forehand error by Rastogi gave Nadal the break, and a few minutes later, the set.

8220;I played a fantastic first set. It was unfortunate I missed a few balls,8221; said Rastogi. The man to beat over here was certainly not happy with his game today. 8220;I played a bad first set. Normally I don8217;t miss these balls. I8217;m happy with my serve, but the rest I need to improve,8221; said Nadal.

The left-hander, as expected, raised the bar in the second set allowing Rastogi only one game. But then, scores never reflect the true character of a match and today was one such day.

The legendary Ramanathan Krishnan, who watched the entire proceedings with rapt attention, leaning forward on his chair throughout the 84 minutes, hailed Rastogi8217;s efforts. 8220;He played well, particularly in the first set. It was a good exposure for him today. Now he knows how good a world No 2 player is,8221; the former Davis Cupper said. As Rastogi later pointed out, 8220;the mental block is gone.8221;

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Early in the day, Austrian Stefan Koubek handed former champion Paradorn Srichaphan his earliest exit in six appearances here in a match that lasted all of 47 minutes. Koubek, who made the semis at the Mumbai Open cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win over the Thai, who looked troubled by the wrist injury that prevented him from defending his gold medal at the Doha Asian Games. French fourth seed Julien Benneteau reached the last-eight stage with a 7-6 4, 6-2 victory over Russian Igor Andreev. His compatriot and sixth seed Fabrice Santoro wasted little time in getting past German Bjorn Phau 6-4, 6-2.