She jumped 23 places from the previous week to land in the top 80 for the first time since July of last year. This came after she reached the final of the PTT Bangkok Open on Sunday, her first finals appearance since winning the title in Hyderabad three years ago.

"I'm happy to be back in this position again after a rough time at the beginning of the year. Even when I dropped out of the top 100, my coach and I never stopped believing in myself, and it finally paid off," said Tamarine, who a year ago fell from the top 150, her worst position in more than a decade.

Due to the low ranking, she was forced to enter small challenge events, once travelling as far as Coatzacoalco, Mexico, where she almost died of food poisoning.

"I am thankful to my coach for accompanying me to those difficult places and sharing the bad times with me," she said, paying tribute to long-time coach Panomkorn Pladchuanil.

In her seventh WTA final on Sunday, Tamarine came close to winning a trophy on her home soil. She led American teenage prodigy Vania King at 4-3 and 40-15 but squandered the opportunity.

The loss hurt, but reaching her first final in three years reassured Tamarine of the talent that once made her No 19 in the world.

"I never give up hope and still want to keep improving my ranking. Of course I'd love to get back to where I used to be, but it won't be easy, because the tour is highly competitive now," she said. "Instead of setting a particular goal, I prefer to enjoy playing tennis at this stage of my career. I don't want put pressure on myself."

With two months left in the season, Tamarine still has a few more ITF tournaments to play and 78 points to defend if she hopes to finish in the top 100.

She is undecided about an upcoming three weeks of tennis in China due to an injured

right ankle.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation