[Tennis]The approximately 6,000 fans at the Impact Arena went bonkers yesterday as their hero Paradorn Srichaphan fought back from 3-5 in the decisive set to send Britain's Tim Henman out of the Thailand Open yesterday.

The son of the soil looked headed for the exit with Henman serving for the set at 5-3 but out of the blue the British serve-and-volleyer's game collapsed as the Thai eventually prevailed in the topsy-turvy quarter-final 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) after two hours and 18 minutes.

 "I have no idea how I won the match as I was a lot behind Tim in the final set. I just hung in there and tried my best, thinking it was just only one break down,'' said Paradorn after reaching his third straight semi-final appearance in the home tournament.

An award for the win was a surprise kiss from 2005 Miss Universe Natalie Glebova. The brand ambassador of Boonrawd Brewery will donate Bt250 for each of the aces the Thai serves here.

"This is one of the best wins of my career. Playing at home means a lot to me and people expect to see me play well,'' said Paradorn, who narrowed the gap in head-to-head meetings with Henman to 2-6.

Dubbed as one of the best serve-and-volleyers in the circuit, Henman, ranked 59th, had only words of praise for Paradorn for playing the best tennis against him in the third set tie-breaker.

"I had to give him credit for that. He made a lot of good returns. It was a difficult match to lose,'' said the former top 10 player.

Paradorn will player either world No 3 Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia or American Robby Ginepri in the semi-final today. The Thai trails the Croatian 2-4 and the American 1-4 in their head-to-head meetings.

"I have bad records against both of them. I'm in the semi-final for the third year and look forward to doing better."

Paradorn fought back from a break down to force the first set tie-break which Henman won easily after hammering two forehand down-the-line winners. He staved off several break points in the beginning of the second set and drew loud cheers from fans when he broke Henman for a 3-2 lead after the Briton's slice sailed long.

Unhappy with a few line calls, Henman lost his concentration and gave up the second set after sending long a slice.

Henman passed his Thai rival with a spectacular backhand winner to secure an early break and strode to a 5-2 lead in the third set. But as the Englishman served for the match at 5-3, errors crept into his game and he unbelievably lost that game. The Thai fired a series of good passing shots including the one on match point.

The other semi-final match will feature American James Blake and Russian giant Marat Safin. Blake ousted Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-2 2-6 7-5 and Safin struggled to beat German Mischa Zverev 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 7-5.

Blake, with three titles under his belt this season, was on fire in the first set but quickly faded away in the second where he committed 15 unforced errors. He was

down 0-2 in the final set before intensifying his attack to close out the match in one hour and 41 minutes. "I played my best tennis in the first set. But he played good after that and my serves went off, it was tough winning points on my second serves,'' said former Harvard student Blake, who beat Safin in the Davis Cup last week.

"We always have good matches. I played him in the dead rubber in the Davis Cup. It depends on

who can adjust better on hard court."

The hot-tempered Safin, still throwing racquets, which has become more like a routine, was down a break in the first set but his impressive passing shot levelled him at five before he landed the set 7-6 (7-4). But he double-faulted to drop the second set 5-7.

The third set went with serves until the Russian had a crucial break to surge ahead at 6-5 after Zverev's volley sailed long, which drew loud cheers from fans, including a blonde beauty in the stands.

"He played perhaps the best match of his career. He served good and volleyed good, putting me under pressure all the time. But the support from the fans was important to me,'' said the Russian who has a 2-0 record over Blake on hard courts.

"I lost to him in the Davis Cup but that doesn't count. It was the last rubber and everybody wanted to go home,'' added Safin who believed he stands a better chance against Blake here.

In the doubles quarter-finals. Chris Haggard of South Africa and Jordan Kerr of Australia scored over Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Danai Udomchoke 6-1 6-2.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation