Top-seeded Rafael Nadal opened the year with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Rainer Schuettler of Germany, and second-seeded David Nalbandian was upset by Kristian Pless 2-6, 6-3-, 7-5 in the opening round of the ATP Tour's Chennai Open.

The 20-year-old Nadal started out rusty and Schuettler took a 4-2 lead by breaking Nadal in the sixth game. But Nadal, ranked second in the world, won four straight games to take the first set, and eased through the second set for the victory.

``This being the first outing of a new season, I wasn't 100 per cent,'' Nadal said. ``I need some more matches to strike top form, but I'm happy to get past Rainer who I know can be a very dangerous opponent.''

Denmark's Pless scored the biggest victory of his career by beating Nalbandian, who is ranked No. 8 in the world.

The 25-year-old Pless rallied against the Argentinian twice. After Nalbandian won the opening set, Pless owned the second set. In the deciding set, Nalbandian squandered a 3-0 lead.

``I'm absolutely delighted as this is the first time I've beaten a top-10 player,'' said Pless, who said he was surprised to get so many easy points through Nalbandian's unforced errors.

Fifth-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain defeated Germany's Alexander Waske 7-6 (3), 6-3.

The two-time tournament winner, who has been a finalist for the past three years, found his form in the second set after needing a tiebreaker to win the opener.

``I had a hard time reading his game. Waske's a difficult player and had beaten me in our only previous encounter,'' said Moya, a former No. 1 now ranked 43rd in the world.

Sixth-seeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro had an easier first-round match as his Czech opponent David Skoch retired because of back stress in the first set when Santoro led 3-0.

Indian wild card Karan Rastogi beat Thiago Alves of Brazil 6-3, 6-4 to move into a second round meeting with Nadal.

In other first-round matches, Bjorn Phau of Germany defeated Olivier Patience of France 6-4, 6-4, Italian Davide Sanguinetti beat Konstantinos Economidis of Greece 6-4, 6-3 and Austria's Stefan Koubek rallied past Bartolome Salva-Vidal of Spain 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

© The Canadian Press, 2007