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Published on October 8, 2007

Thai No 2 Nudnida Luang-nam squandered a 5-1 lead in the tie-break as she handed the match to Romania's Anda Perianu 6-7 (5-7) 2-6, while Nicha Lertpitaksinchai let a 2-0 lead slip away in the second set before losing to seventh seed Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine 3-6 3-6.

With the defeats of the two locals, Nungnadda Wannasuk remained the last hope as she played third seed Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan in the afternoon. But the teenager did not have what it takes to bring down the Uzbek giant, falling in straight sets 3-6 5-7. Amanmuradova had beaten Elena Baltacha of Great Britain 6-2 6-3 in the morning.

Seeded players successfully booked their spots in the last qualifying. Top seed Anne Kremer of Luxembourg won her match against Japan's Ayumi Morita as the latter retired at 0-4 due to sickness.

Second seed Emilia Salerni of Argentina defeated South Africa's Natalie Gradin 6-2 7-6 (8-6), and eight seed Yuan Meng of China downed compatriot Zhang Shuai 6-2 6-4. Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova routed Dutchwoman Michelle Gerards 6-1 6-1, and Ireland's Kelly Liggan eliminated Maria Kondratieva of Russia 6-3 6-2.

Meanwhile, former world No 1 Venus Williams arrived in town yesterday from Tokyo where she was a runner-up. The American, who is seeded No 2 here, said she expected to lift the trophy and wished to return to Chiang Mai where she played an exhibition with Maria Sharapova two years ago.

Today's programme starts at 3pm with the final qualifying competition followed by four singles first-round contests. The highlight is the encounter between Severine Bremond, the former Wimbledon quarter-finalist, and Australian rising star Casey Dellacqua.

Eighth seed Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania, the only seed in action today, plays Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, Croatian Jelena Kostanic Tosic takes on France's Camille Pin, and Sorana Cirstea of Romania faces Wimbledon junior champion Urszula Radwanska of Poland in the match between wildcards.

Sophia Mulsap and Varatchaya Wongteanchai, wildcard entrants, are scheduled to play Spain's Lourdes Dominiguez and Arantxa Parra Santonja in the night session.

Henin wins 8th title

nIn Stuttgart, top-ranked Justine Henin rallied to beat Tatiana Golovin 2-6 6-2 6-1 yesterday and win the Porsche Grand Prix for her eighth title of the year.

Henin dropped her first set since losing the Wimbledon semi-final to Marion Bartoli, but stretched her winning streak to 16 matches, including a run to the US Open title.

Golovin lost the Porsche Grand Prix final for the second straight year, after beating No 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday's semi-final.

Henin now has 37 career titles. She also won the French Open this year and is 54-4 for the year.

"I finally got this title," said Henin, who had lost twice in the final of the tournament, in 2001 and 2003.

Henin had a choice of driving away in a Porsche 911 convertible or taking US$92,410 in cash as the first prize.

"Give me a few minutes to think about it," Henin said on the court during the award ceremony.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation