• 
• 

Published on July 25, 2007

The top seed in the US$10,000 SAT ITF Women's Circuit 3, who previously had five straight losses in the first round, finally heaved a sigh of relief when she eliminated Meghha Vakaria of India 6-4 6-2 in the first round at the LTAT National Tennis Centre yesterday.

The win has taken a load off the 27-year-old's back, but she will not change her plan to give up the game for good after struggling with form and finances for the past year.

"It has come to a point where you feel you're done with it. I have already decided that I'm going to quit after the SEA Games in December,'' said Napaporn, whose world ranking peaked at 226 last August.

Since clinching a Challenger trophy in Kentucky in October 2005, which made her the second Thai - after Tamarine Tanasugarn - to win a $50,000 tournament, Napaporn has never came close to winning a crown.

Even worse, her sponsor terminated her contract last year and since October she has managed to win just seven out of 22 matches. That left her with no other option but to look to things beyond the tennis court.

"I've been thinking about this for a very long time. Actually I have had so many problems in my career, but mainly I'm not financially sound. I don't want to give it a few more years trying, and then look for a job when I'm over 30,'' added Napaporn, who fancies either a flight attendant or news anchor as her next profession.

Three other seeds went through to the second round yesterday. Second-seeded Rushmi Chakravarthi of India ousted Denise Dy of the Philippines 6-4 6-1, third-seeded Liang Chen of China laboured to move past Anna Movsisyan of Armenia 6-4 1-6 6-4 and fourth seed Chen Yi of Taiwan downed the Kingdom's Varatchaya Wongteanchai 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

Apart from Napaporn, three other Thais advanced into the second round, including 15-year-old sensation Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, who used her double-fisted ground strokes to pick off Lutfiana-Aris Budiharto of Indonesia 6-4 6-2. Qualifier Varanya Vijuksanaboon was on fire, crushing Eriko Mizuno of Japan 6-0 6-1, while unknown Kanyapat Narattana, a wildcard, surprised Haruka Fujishiro of Japan with a 6-1 6-0 scoreline.

Three seeds faltered yesterday - fifth-seeded Huang Lei of China lost to countrywoman Lu Jia Xiang 2-6 7-5 6-4, seventh-seeded Cassandra Barr of Australia went down to Shao Shi-Tong of China 6-1 6-3 and eighth seed Ankita Bhambri of India fell to Keren Shlomo of Israel 7-5 1-6 6-4.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation