Hot Sophia stuns India's third seed
[TENNIS] Teenager Sophia Mulsap pulled off the biggest upset on day two of the US$10,000 (Bt380,000) PTT Bangkok Open Circuit 2 tournament after she knocked out third-seeded Punam Reddy of India in the first round yesterday.
Sophia, who accepted a wild card entry into the tournament, took world No 608 Reddy out of the competition with a 7-5 6-4 win at the Tennis Academy of Asia in Bangkok. The 16-year-old Sophia, who has been selected to join the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand's rising stars programme, will play the winner of the match between Wilawan Choptang and Lavinia Tananta of Indonesia in the second round. Top seed Nudnida Luangnam advanced to the second round after moving past Japan's Yuka Kuroda 6-2 6-4. The other Thai to survive the first round was wild card entrant Varatchaya Wongteanchai, who picked off Taiwan's Chang Kai-chen 6-4 6-0. Elsewhere, Marinne Giraud of Mauritius routed Hong Kong's Lam Po-kuen 6-0 6-3, while Dutchwoman Selma Andrade, another wild card entrant, dashed the hopes of local Thassha Vitayaviroj 6-3 6-2. Last week's champion Chan Wing-Yau Venise of Hong Kong extended her unbeaten run with an upset 6-1 6-0 win over eight-seeded Pichittra Thongdach. Uzbekistan's Dilyara Saidkhodjaeva cruised past Australia's Cassandra Chan 6-3 6-0. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Thailand's Napaporn Tongsalee beat Canadian Marie-Eve Pelletier 2-6 6-2 6-4 to reach the final qualifying round of the US$50,000 Third Bank Tennis Championships in Lexington on Monday. She was set to play American Jennifer Tuchband for a spot in the main draw late last night (Bangkok time).
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