In his final tune-up for next week's US Open qualifying round, Danai broke his towering opponent twice in the fifth and ninth games to win the first set and managed a crucial break in the last game of the second set to close out the match.

It was Danai's first career win over the world ranked No 97 Muller, who narrowly edged him out 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 in a Challenger event in Brazil two years ago.

"There was nothing special in my game plan. I just kept him out of rhythm by mixing up short and long balls,'' said Danai, who has had his confidence restored after failing to qualify for the ATP Masters Series in Toronto last week.

"Beating the top seed is a good boost for me. My mental condition is better than it was for the past few weeks,'' added Danai, who was scheduled to take on American Michael Russel, who dispatched Tomas Zib of Czech Republic 6-4 6-4, last night in the semi-final.

Danai anticipates a tough battle against the 197th ranked Russel, who beat him 7-5 6-3 in Texas six years ago.

"He is a very dangerous and solid player. But he always gets injuries and slips down the rankings. It will be a lot tougher playing him in the semi-finals. I will try to keep him off his comfort zone," he said.

On the women's side, Thailand's Napaporn Tongsalee and Indonesia's Romana Tedjakusuma lost their doubles semi-final 6-3 6-1 to third-seeded American Julie Ditty and South African Natalie Grandin.

Meanwhile, Chung Hee-seok of South Korea won back-to-back titles after he upset Australian second-seed Nick Lindahl 6-1 6-1 in the final of the $15,000 PTT-LTAT Bangkok Open ITF Men's Futures 5 event at the Tennis Academy of Asia yesterday. Chung was also the champion in the previous leg last week at the Rama Gardens Hotel.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation