Paradorn now has a much easier task against lowly-ranked Briton Arvind Parmar, a lucky loser in qualifying who is ranked only 230th in the world.

World No 2 Nadal suffered a thigh injury which forced him to withdraw from the tournament where he was the top seed. The Spaniard sustained the injury during his semi-final against Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

In the doubles, Paradorn teams up with close buddy Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and will play the Rochus brothers, Oliver and Christopher, in the first round.

However, Paradorn slipped down the world ranking again this week, falling from No 53 to No 58 this week. Compatriot Danai Udomchoke also moved down in the rankings from 105 to 107.

Danai is seeded second this week in a Challenger event in Mathieu Montcourt, France, where he is a wild card holder in the first round. He will also team up with Sonchat Ratiwatana in the doubles and they will take on Sasa Tuksar of Croatia and Igor Kunitsyn of Russia.

Meanwhile, Thai women’s No 1 Tamarine Tanasugarn was forced to withdraw from this week’s Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open because of a wrist injury she picked up during a match in Bangalore last week.

Meanwhile, Italian Mara Santangelo staged a fine rally to clinch her first WTA Tour title on Sunday by defeating sixth-seeded Jelena Kostanic of Croatia 3-6 7-6 (5) 6-3 in the final of the Bangalore Open.

Meanwhile, Carlos Moya of Spain survived a first-set scare to beat Italy’s Filippo Volandri 7-6 (6), 6-4 for the Copa Telmex championship Sunday, his third ATP title in Buenos Aires since 1995.