Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn serves against Catalina Castano of Colombia. The Thai star claimed her first win at home in three years.

Long rain delays could not stop local star Tamarine Tanasugarn from winning her first WTA match at home in three years when she ousted Colombian Catalina Castano in the first round of the US$200,000 PTT Bangkok Open yesterday.

But the tournament lost one of its stars when India's Sania Mirza fell in her first round match yesterday.

Tamarine was leading her 10th-seeded opponent 6-0 6-6 and 3-1 when heavy rain suspended play for three hours, but the Thai quickly wrapped up the encounter when play resumed to finish with a 6-0 7-6 (7-5) scoreline.

The victory took some pressure off Tamarine, whose last win in Thailand was three years ago when she reached a semi-final in Pattaya.

"I'm happy to play well and pull off a win. I came into the match pressure free and concentrated only on the game," said Tamarine, who also beat the 55th-ranked Castano in the first round at Wimbledon this year.

"I think she was a little off in the first set, but then came back strong in the second by serving incredibly. I was lucky to serve well on crucial points in the tie-break," added the Thai, who allowed Castano to claw back from 1-5 to 5-5 in the tie-breaker. She closed the deal after Castano pounded a backhand into the net.

Tamarine will next play hard-hitting American Jamea Jackson, who thrashed Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-2 6-3. The two will meet in round two on Thursday. The Thai lost to the American twice this year in the Australian Open and in Surbiton, England.

"She will be tough to play. I just have to play my game and give it my best shot," she said.

Thailand's No 2 women's player, Suchanan Viratprasert, failed to follow her countrywoman and squandered a 4-2 lead in the first set to fall to Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-4 6-0.

Although many thought the slow surface at the Rama Gardens Hotel would suit the Colombian more, the Thai star adjusted quicker to the surface and dominated from the baseline with deep, flat groundstrokes.

Castano, on the contrary, never found any momentum in the first set. She either sprayed her shots long or hit the net and at times shook her head in disappointment.

The Colombian finally found her feet in the second set, cutting the number of unforced errors while raising the level of her first serves. The set went with serve until Tamarine proved more consistent in the long rallies to manage a break to go up 6-5.

Thick, dark clouds then hovered and Tamarine led 3-1 in

the tiebreak before the rain started.

The tournament lost one of its big name players when India's Mirza, who committed a flurry of unforced errors including seven double faults, went down to American sixth-seed Meghan Shaugnessy 6-4 6-4 yesterday.

The match failed to live up to expectations as the Indian struggled to keep the ball on the court. She later withdrew from the doubles where she was supposed to team up with Tamarine due to an upset stomach.

"Sania is a dangerous player who hits forehands big and goes for her shots. But I tried to be more aggressive and served well which was difficult for her to return. It was the key," said the 27-year-old from Arizona.

In other first round matches, Germany's Julia Schruff beat Emma Laine of Finland 6-4 7-6 (7-5), while Sybille Bammer of Austria beat Australian Nicole Pratt 6-1 6-3.

Napaporn Tongsalee and South Korean partner Mi Yoo went down to American Vania King and Croatian Jelena Kostanic 6-2

7-5.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation