Indianapolis, Indiana UNITED STATES : Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand celebrates a point against Wayne Arthurs of Australia during the RCA Championships 19 July 2006 at the Indianapolis Tennis Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP

Paradorn pounds out a win in serving struggle

By Manager Online

20 July 2006 17:58

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AFP) - Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan claimed a battling 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 win over Aussie Wayne Arthurs to reach the third round of the ATP Indianapolis Open Wednesday.

The eighth seed was relieved to go through in a contest which revolved entirely around serve.

The winner, who was runner-up to Andy Roddick here in 2003, fired 16 aces while big-hitting Arthurs rained down a massive 29.

"It could have gone either way," said Paradorn, who is hoping the move to US hardcourts will help him forget the agony of seven defeats in the first round on clay last followed by a loss in his opening match at Wimbledon.

"This is the start of a new season for me," he said. "I hope I can do much better than I've done so far."

The contest was so evenly matched that only one break point surfaced in the first two sets.

That opportunity in the 11th game of the second set - produced by a double-fault from the Thai - was quickly saved.

But Arthurs took it into a tiebreaker with an ace on set point.

"I was hoping for one good return game to break him in the third," said Paradorn, winner of five career titles, who did get the decisive break to lead 2-1. "I'm glad I didn't lose serve today, but there were certainly no rallies."

German fifth seed Tommy Haas advanced in his first match since Wimbledon as he put out Swiss veteran George Bastl 6-3, 6-3.

"Any victories are a bonus," said Haas, who added, "I'm really using these coming weeks as a buildup for the US Open."

Haas was joined in the third round by Belgian Xavier Malisse a 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 winner over South Korea's Hyung-taik Lee.

Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen scored the day's lone upset as he beat sixth seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-3, 6-2.

Tenth seed Nicolas Mahut, the lone Frenchman remaining in the field, defeated Brazilian Thiago Alves 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Manager Online