The Spanish armada at the Chennai Open was derailed, as Carlos Moya went down tamely to Austria's Stefan Koubek an hour after world number two Rafael Nadal was upset in the semi-final on gloomy Saturday night.
A fairytale final script went horribly wrong as Belgium's Xavier Malisse beat Nadal 6-4, 7-6 (4) in a two-hour and seven minutes high-voltage semi-final, while Koubek thumped Moya 6-1, 6-3 to silence the crowd at the SDAT Nungambakkam stadium.
From winning the toss, to the forehand return error from Nadal on the last point, Malisse did most things right. He countered Nadal's top spin with his own brand of flat, hard, deep ground strokes, served well, attacked his backhand and matched the Spaniard's athleticism on court.
"I was very comfortable with my game today," said the 26-year-old Belgian, who failed to take even a set from the Spaniard in their two previous encounters.
"I played aggressive; took more risks. I was playing well in rallies and went for my big forehand; it is difficult to play with him because he is going to hit the ball deep."
A backhand cross-court winner from Malisse gave him the break in the third game of the first set. The Belgian, cruised through his service games, slamming the ball down the middle, on which even one of the best returners in the game was stretched.
Nadal had just one break opportunity (in the sixth game) of the first set, but Malisse got the first serves in and at deuce two return errors from the Spaniard sealed the game.
With Nadal imparting a lot of spin on his ground strokes, Malisse, regarded as one of the most talented players on the circuit, ran hard and seemed to have enough time to place the ball well.
The second set saw some high quality tennis from the duo. Both moved around like pieces on a chessboard constantly trying to out-pace, outwit each other. The long, hard rallies were punctuated by some delicate drops and volleys, as a 5000-strong crowd gasped at every move even when the point was in play.
Nadal, a reputed counter-puncher, found his match in the fleet-footed Malisse, who never seemed out of place. One of the features of the Spaniard's game is forcing his opponent into making errors even as he guards the baseline like a wall. But with Malisse, who had nothing to lose in this game, the errors were not forthcoming and the Belgian rose to the occasion, unleashing a sharper array of strokes.
Thrice each, in the tenth and the twelfth game, Nadal had the chance to break Malisse but he let opportunities slip.
"I had some chances in the second set but I didn't play very well. He served well in important points," said a disappointed Nadal. "After reaching the semis I wanted to make it to the final and win the tournament but I wasn't feeling my best. It wasn't meant to be today."
Malisse attacked Nadal's backhand to keep the advantage going. He came up with strong serves in the tie-break, winning it 7-4 after taking an early 3-1 lead.
Having turned pro in 1998, Malisse reached his seventh career final and is looking to go all the way in his tournament debut.
"I may not be able to play this every time," he said, "Even if I have to play ugly tomorrow to win, so be it."
Koubek too good for Moya
Koubek continued his giant-killing run, beating three seeded players in a row to set up a summit clash with Malisse.
After crushing the challenge from Paradorn Srichaphan and then fourth seed Julien Benneteau in the quarter-finals, Koubek showed no mercy while putting out the crowd favourite.
In a battle of 30-yeard-olds, Koubek, making most of the second coming after he was banned from the game due to positive drug tests in 2004, used his brutal backhand to full effect against the former champion.
He broke Moya's serve in the ninth game of the first set and served it out at 6-3.
Moya, coming off a tiring match against Ivo Karlovic on Friday, faded out in the second set as he won only the first game of the set before surrendering it in 28 minutes.
Nadal-Vidal in doubles final
Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Batolome Salva-Vidal proved too strong for the Austrian-German combine of Alexander Peya and Bjorn Phau in a doubles semi-final on Saturday night.
A 7-5, 6-1 victory gave Nadal a chance to settle scores with Xavier Malisse of Belgium, who had shocked him in the singles semi-final earlier in the evening.
Malisse, pairing with compatriot Dick Norman, had already made it to the final when they upset top seeds Leos Friedl and Michael Kohlmann 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday night.