Lady luck smiled on Paradorn Srichaphan and Tamarine Tanasugarn yesterday as they got favourable Wimbledon draws, but it was not the case with Danai Udomchoke, who has an arduous task at the All England Club.

The world No 36 Paradorn, who was elevated to No 29 seed following a series of withdrawals, was pitted against Agustin Calleri of Argentina, whom he had defeated 7-5 6-4 at the ATP Masters Series in Indian Wells last year.

But countryman Danai was pitted against old Russian rival Dmitri Tursunov, the power-hitter who bounced him 6-3 2-6 6-2 from the second-round match of the warm-up tournament in Queen's Club two weeks ago.

Battling out and emerging from the qualifying round, Tamarine will kick off her campaign against Columbia's Catalina Castano, the world No 36, who has never moved beyond the second round in three attempts.

However, a real test awaits Paradorn in round two as he is likely to meet the gigantic Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who eliminated the Thai from the first round here in 2004. He is also in the same section of the draw as the 2004 semi-finalist, Mario Ancic, whose serve and volley game makes him very dangerous on grass.

"I'm quite confident in the first round, because I beat him in Indian Wells last year. Besides, I'm better on grass, and I'm playing well these days," said Paradorn, who after reaching the fourth round in 2004 made early exits two years in a row. Last year he was stopped by Russian Marat Safin.

"A few days ago I was hoping to be seeded, and now that I have been seeded, I'm happy that I don't have to play tough players," added Paradorn, who practised with Danai yesterday afternoon.

Danai, meanwhile, is looking forward to making amends for his straight defeats by Tursunov. He also lost to the Russian in a challenger three years ago.

"I have a chance, but it will be a tough encounter. He hits the balls hard and goes for his shots, so if he hits the balls in, I will have no chance," said Danai, who is travelling with his Czech coach Jan Storces.

If Roger Federer is to win a fourth consecutive Wimbledon title, he will have to do it the hard way after being handed a tough draw. The world No 1 will open up next week with a meeting with French youngster Richard Gasquet, an adept grass court performer who won the Nottingham Open on the surface last year.

If the top seed, who is unbeaten in his last 41 matches on grass, comes through that encounter, he could come up against Britain's Tim Henman, who remains, on his day, one of the best grass court players in the world.

For that match-up to take place, Henman, unseeded here for the first time in a decade, must first overcome Sweden's Robin Soderling.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation