Napaporn's great run ends
The impressive run of Thailand's Napaporn Tongsalee in the US$50,000 Walmart/Wolf Lumber Women's Challenger tournament ended on Saturday when she lost to fourth-seeded Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine 6-4 7-6 (8-6) in the semi-final at the Oak Knoll Country Club in Los Angeles.
After upset wins over two seeded players en rout to the final four, Napaporn failed to keep her momentum going, blowing a lead in the second set to lose the match. "I was up 5-3 in the second set but I wasted my chance. It was a close match," said Napaporn, who never expected to get so far in the tournament. "I pulled off three tough matches. I couldn't be happier. I hope to play well like this in the next tournament." She will next head to Lexington for another challenger level tournament where she will be joined by fellow Thais Tamarine Tanasugarn and Suchanan Viratprasert. Meanwhile in Bangkok, Hong Kong's seventh-seeded Chan Wing-Yau Venise lifted the trophy at the PTT Bangkok Open Circuit I tournament following her 6-4 6-4 win over Indonesian fifth-seed Ayu-Fani Damayanti at the Rama Gardens Hotel yesterday. The second leg of the three-circuit tournament takes place today at the same venue with Nudnida Luangnam as the top seed and local hope.
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