January 8, 2025
by Vijay Amritraj
hindustantimes.com

The first seed to fall at the Tata Open 2004 was surprisingly Rafael Nadal, seeded no 6 and the man who is considered not just the future of Spanish tennis but also the future of World tennis. [Ed note: Amritraj had previously said, in an earlier article, "Amongst the others, the man to watch is young Rafael Nadal, just 16 and seeded 6th. Ranked in the top 50 , he became the youngest player to reach the third round at Wimbledon (in 2003). It shows that he has no fear of a foreign surface like grass. He is not a big man but has one of the strongest legs. He is mentally tough, which you rarely see at that age. There is very little doubt that he will make the Top 10 in the world ranking very soon."]

Nadal's potential has been proven over the last year with his ability to play on any surface. His start against the 22-year-old Frenchman Thierry Oscine seemed to go according to plan and he got 3-1 up in the first set. Thereafter, the match turned around quickly and though Nadal had one more break opportunity at 2-3, 0-40 on the Frenchman's serve he never really looked like he would come through 7-5. He also continued to stay focused and in the driver's seat through the next set and closed out the match 7-6, 6-4 which ended very late on Tuesday night.

As expected the top three seeds came through very comfortably. All of them were very happy to get that crucial first match under their belts, especially after coming from a holiday, where they wouldn't have been as sharp as they would like to be. Seed No 1 Carlos Moya had a perfect match against qualifier Naom Okun of Israel. Having led 5-0 in the first set, he had a lapse of concentration, which brought Okun back to 5-3. It was a good wake-up call for Moya who promptly closed out the set 6-3. The second set was similar with Moya getting the early break and winning it 6-4. This was just enough practice in a match to get him prepared for the rest of the week.

The no 3 seed Sjeng Schalken of Netherland playing on an outside court was tested a little more by qualifier Danai Udomchoke of Thailand winning 6-4 7-5. It was also the kind of match Schalken needed to get his timing right on this surface to feel good about the rest of the week. Udomchoke came through the qualifying very convincingly and plays No 2 for Thailand behind Paradorn Srichapan. This just shows how much Thailand, has improved as a tennis playing nation.