On the other hand, sixth seed Sandeep Kirtane continued to make good use of the exposure at this level, as he entered the quarter-finals with a hard-fought 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3) win against Hungarian Balazs Veress.

Sandeep, who is aiming for a comeback in the elite four of the Indian Davis Cup team, has shown good strength and skills till now, beating two regular Indian Davis Cuppers -- Prahlad Srinath (first-leg, first round) and Syed Fazaluddin (second-leg, quarter-finals) -- and today the stubborn Hungarian, ranked 848 on the ATP computer.

The fact that Sandeep, overcoming injuries, kept his feet firm on court for two hours 38 minutes, itself, speaks volumes of his prowess. ``As long as I am mentally prepared and ready to fight it out, the injury doesn't bother me,'' informed Sandeep, after the marathon tie.

``Yesterday's three-set win over Van Wyk Coenie boosted my confidence. And today, after a very long time, I played a back-to-back three-setter and won. I feel better and more focused,'' added the Punetie.

Both Sandeep and Balazs attacked at will and matched each ones capabilities. The Indian however mixed his strokes well and the variety added to the prolonged rallies gave him the edge, in a rather fierce encounter.

The former Davis Cupper took 52-minutes to win the first set, with breaks in 3rd and 11th, before conceeding the 10th. In the second set, Balazs looked more controlled and led 3-0 holding serves twice and breaking the second. Sandeep, narrowed the gap with a fifth game break, made it 3-3 and kept on till both spilt ten. Losing his concentration at this juncture made him pay in the form of a crutial 12th game, thus handing Balazs the set 7-5.

The third was the longest of all: one hour, 11 minutes, but nowhere it looked as it took the toll of Sandeep. With both players opting for safe play and softening their attack in between, the set went on with serves till the tenth. Sandeep moved into a higher gear, with indicatons of finishing the match, as he gained a vital 11th game break (6-5) which was neutralised almost immediately.

The elusive victory was not far as the Indian took an early grip in the tie-breaker with a 4-2 lead and wrapped up the tie 7-3.

Uppal Shocks Thornadtsson: For Vishal Uppal, his experience playing doubles held in good stead. He kept pushing himself and was patient at times when required -- the tricks he has learned by playing doubles alongwith partner Mustafa Ghouse. ``In doubles we keep encouraging each other by saying `hang-in'. It kept reminding myself of the same for that extra effort, '' admitted Vishal.

The Indian never allowed Thornadtsson to settle in, playing him on his backhand with low tantalising returns. Vishal jumped to a 4-1 lead, with breaks in third and fifth game, before dropping serve in the sixth. In the second set, the duo traded breaks twice in the first and second games and later in the sixth and seventh games. But Vishal earned the all-important break in the 11th and then held his serve in the next to win 6-4, 7-5.

After the game not only was the Swede surprised, by his opponents impressive serves but Vishal too, ``I played freely, taking point by point and not thinking of a win. I had to take the initiative, and that's what I did," said an elated Vishal.

Quarter-final Line-up
1-Tom Chicoine (USA, 500) Vs 7-Kunj Majmudar (USA, 1232)
4-Thomas Messmer (Ger, 949) Vs 6-Sandeep Kirtane (Ind, 782)
3-Prahlad Srinath (India, 312) Vs Vishal Uppal (India)
2-Radim Zitko (Czeh Rep., 464) Vs Nitin Kirtane (India, 828).