Published on January 14, 2006

Danai Udomchoke and Tamarine Tanasugarn withstood first-set challenges from their opponents before advancing to the final qualifying round of the Australian Open yesterday. Staying on track in his campaign to earn a spot in the main draw in Melbourne for the first time, the third-seeded Danai battled through four set points on his way to beating American Glenn Weiner 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

Despite inconsistent serving that included eight double faults, Tamarine employed her superior baseline game to down young rival Elise Tamaela of the Netherlands 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in one hour and 51 minutes.

The two Thais need to get win their final games today to book spots in the main draw. Danai is due to take on Dominik Meffert of Germany, while Tamarine will play rising Taiwanese star Hsieh Su-wei.

After rallying back from a break down at the beginning, Danai was in jeopardy again when he faced four set points at 5-6 down in the first set. But a backhand winner helped save him from disaster and the game went into a tie-break, in which the Thai proved more consistent.

“He played so well in that game. I was a bit lucky as he had the chance to pass me but it hit the net, otherwise the first set would have gone his way,’’ said Danai.

In the second set, Danai improved his returns and won easily 6-3. He is now a match away from his first appearance in the Australian Open main draw. But the last hurdle, against 267th ranked Dominik Meffert, will not be a walk in the park. The German yesterday upset 27th seed Sasa Tuksar of Croatia 2-6 7-6(9) 6-2.

“I’ve never seen him play but I’ve heard he’s beaten a lot of good players. I expect a tough match with him.”

Tamarine was serving for the opening set at 5-4 but committed two double faults and unforced errors to let Tamaela scrap back to 5-5. Tamarine then trailed 5-3 in the tie-break before reeling off four straight points to take the set.

Tamarine, who blasted 28 winners to only 15 from her opponent, took the second set easily in just 42 minutes.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation

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