Thailand's Danai Udomchoke said he feels at home after beating Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 to reach the second round of the Japan Open in Tokyo yesterday.

"I feel good to be in Japan. I feel like it is my second home here," said the 25-year-old from Bangkok, who is popular with Japanese fans.

"Today I played really good. I just kept my concentration in important points. That's why I won 7-6 6-3, that's what I was doing."

Danai crashed out at the first hurdle last year but was solid yesterday with an array of accurate groundstrokes. Once he took the tie-break in the first set he never looked back, breaking Cilic immediately to power to victory.

His effort earned him a second round clash with Benjamin Becker of Germany, who received a first round bye along the other 15 seeded players, including world No 1 Roger Federer.

"He [Becker] has very good serves and his groundstrokes are very good," said Danai. "I will try to play my game first and will try to find his weakness. I hope I will play good and try to hold my serve first," added Danai, who reached his first ATP quarter-finals in Beijing three weeks ago.

His compatriot Paradorn Srichaphan, the eighth seed who received a first round bye, will have a daunting task against Japan's Takao Suzuki in the second round.

Suzuki, despite being ranked below 1,000, is known for his patriotism and he always plays his best tennis in front of his home fans. The last time they met in the 2005 Davis Cup in Osaka, Suzuki stunned

the Thai in three straight sets.

Meanwhile, British star Tim Henman opened his account with a 6-2 6-1 humbling of Canada's Frank Dancevic yesterday and said he fancied his chances in Tokyo.

"I'm very pleased. I did hit the ball well and served well. I enjoyed all the conditions. The court is a little bit quicker than where I usually play on, but it suits my game really, really well," said the 10th seed.

Seventh seed Robby Ginepri became the biggest men's seed to fall when the American crashed to 103rd-ranked Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 6-2 6-2.

Henman, 32, scored one of the first major breakthroughs of his career in Japan 12 years ago, coming through the first two rounds before falling to Pete Sampras.

His appearance yesterday was his first in Tokyo since reaching the last eight in 1998 and he needed only 55 minutes to beat Dancevic and become the first man into the third round after a first round bye. "I remember four years before that in 1994, which was the first time I qualified for the tour event," said Henman.

"I won two rounds and played Sampras on the centre court. So that was a big, big breakthrough for me. So 12 years later, it's fun to be back and playing well."

Then, Henman lost to Sampras 6-1 6-2, but said he has no fear of the top seeds in Japan this week, including world No 1 Federer.

"In the men's game, really anyone from one to 100 can beat anyone else," said Henman, who made the semi-finals of the Thailand Open last week.

"You are aware of the rankings, whether you are seeded or not, but once you step onto the court and play a match, it really doesn't mean anything."

Agencies, The Nation

TOKYO