Published on October 12, 2005

Suchanan shows she has the right stuff. Suchanan Viratprasert kept Thai spirits high at the Rama Gardens, advancing into the second round of the US$200,000 PTT Thailand Open as Thailand’s No 1 Tamarine Tanasugarn crashed out yesterday. The Thai No 2 benefited from a plethora of unforced errors from Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei to score a 6-2 7-6 (7-1) win a baseline duel that lasted one hour and 27 minutes. Tamarine was impatient against the highly experienced Conchita Martinez, who pulled out her full repertoire of slice, spin and drop shots to force errors from the Thai. The sixth-seeded Spanish star, who won her last title almost five years ago in Pattaya, dashed Tamarine’s hopes with a clinical 6-3 6-2 victory.

But Suchanan’s win over Hsieh opened a new chapter in her career - she became the third Thai woman to win a WTA match after Tamarine and Benjamas Sangaram. The 23-year-old did not even know that she had equalled a record.

“I didn’t feel anything special. I’m more concerned with my next match,’’ said the 208th-ranked Thai, playing in a WTA tournament for only the third time.

In the last 16 round, Suchanan will play either second-seeded Nicole Vaidisova, of the Czech Republic, or American Abigail Spears.

“I haven’t seen Vaidisova play before but she has won two tournaments in a row, so she must be in a very confident mood right now. Abigail hits the balls very hard. Both the players will prove to be tough for me,’’ said Suchanan, who is still keen to advance further.

“I know the chances are slim but I hope I can win more matches. The tournament is played in Bangkok and I hope the crowd will push me all the way,’’ she said.

Suchanan began the match in sluggish fashion but after she saved three break points to hold the second game, momentum gradually shifted in her favour. She broke the Taiwanese with a forehand winner to go 3-2 up and took advantage from an error by Hsieh to win the first set 6-2 in just 34 minutes.

The national Fed Cup Player extended her domination into the second set with her solid baseline game while Hsieh, a qualifier, became more error-prone. After an early break in the third game, Suchanan kept the lead throughout the set and twice served for the match.

However, she choked on both occasions at 5-4 and 6-5 to hand Hsieh an opportunity in the tie-breaker. Errors crept into the Taiwanese game as she quickly fell 1-6 behind. The final point featured long exciting rallies before the Thai finished it off with a forehand winner down the line.

“I hurried too much when I was serving for the match. Luckily, she made so many mistakes in the tie-break,’’ the Thai wildcard holder said.

In other matches, fifth-seeded Sania Mirza of India subdued Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia, a two-time champion in Pattaya, with her power game 6-2 4-6 6-0 in 74 minutes. The teenager was in high gear in the first and third sets, relentlessly firing explosive ground-strokes that Nagyova could do nothing but watch.

“It was a very strange match. I was up and down. The first match was always difficult because I just came from another tournament. If I had played better, I could have won in two sets,’’ said Mirza who has been to Thailand a few times to play in junior tournaments in Pattaya.

In other first-round clashes, Catalina Castano of Columbia beat Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela 6-3 6-2, and qualifier Melinda Czink of Hungary extended her run with a 6-3 4-6 6-1 win over Tatiana Garbin of Italy.

Another qualifier, Stephanie Foretz of France, made quick work of Martina Muller of Germany 6-2 6-0. Muller was the late replacement of seventh-seeded Marion Bartoli of France, who withdrew with tendonitis in her right wrist.

Antoella Serra Zanetti of Italy eliminated Shinobu Asagoe of Japan 7-6 (7-2) 6-4. American Shenay Perry was briefly tested by Ana Timotic of Serbia and Montenegro before advancing 7-6 (7-4) 6-1. Third-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina downed American Jamea Jackson 6-4 7-5 and Saori Obata of Japan moved past American Mashona Washington 6-2 6-3.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation

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