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Published on July 22, 2007

The 17-year-old girl, who had to settle for third place in a junior event at this northeastern province years ago, became the victor of the US$10,000 PTT ITF Women's Circuit second leg after beating Taiwanese fourth-seeded Yi Chen 6-3 6-0 in the final yesterday.

The teenage prodigy had three ITF trophies under her belt coming into the final at the Srichaphan Tennis Academy, but it was this brand-new crown that made her proud.

"I was so overwhelmed that I had no words to say because I played my first tournament here. Unlike the previous titles, this one is the most special because it is my first at home,'' said Nungnadda, who has snatched other titles in Nigeria, Pune (India) and Jakarta.

Born in Nakhon Ratchasima, the young woman was upbeat about her chance in the final but never anticipated it would be such a walk in the park, especially when she started the match falling 0-2 behind.

"I thought it would be a close match. But I also did my part to give her a hard time as I kept hitting big shots to keep her out of momentum,'' said Nungnadda, whose fierce baseline game was too much for the Taiwanese to cope with.

This victory is expected to propel her into the top 500 for the first time within a fortnight. Now she has set her sights on bigger tournaments and will skip the third ITF leg, which takes place in Bangkok tomorrow.

"I think I'm ready mentally and physically for bigger tournaments. I've learned that I have to play a variety of shots rather than going for winners like in the past,'' added the youngster, who can enter only 17 tournaments this year due to age restrictions.

She just started working with a new coach, Thanakorm Srichaphan, the eldest brother of Paradorn.

"He is the one who is behind my success here. We've just worked together this week

and he gave so many good techniques which really work well with me."

Meanwhile, Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana made their second straight semi-finals on the ATP Tour after they knocked out fourth-seeded Jordan Kerr of Australia and American Jim Thomas 6-4 6-4 in the US$500,000 Countrywide Classic at the Los Angeles Tennis Centre in Los Angeles on Friday.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation