Danai Udomchoke celebrates his victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in their mens singles second round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, 17 January 2007. Udomchoke won the match 7-6 (7/0), 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

The Nation

Thai snares Ferrero's scalp

January 17, 2007

THAI golden boy Danai Udomchoke posted the biggest win of his career today by upsetting Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, and said he was riding a wave of Asian support.

Danai, who won gold in the Asian Games singles final in Doha last month, upstaged Ferrero in a gritty 7-6 (7-0) 7-5 4-6 6-1 victory over the 24th seed, who was a semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2004.

It was a big win against a player who won the 2003 French Open and was a runner-up in the US Open in the same year.

He showed his mettle by fighting back from 2-5 down in the first set, but said he wasn't feeling any pressure.

"I was down 2-5 and one set point but I haven't got any pressure on the court. I just play my game," he said.

"The pressure was on him and I was able to really hit the ball today because there was no pressure.

"I think, okay, what have I got to lose, just try your best."

His victory set up a tough third round clash against Novak Djokovic, the 14th seed Serbian who beat Feliciano Lopez and has been tipped by world No.1 Roger Federer as a future star.

Danai actually teamed up with Djokovic in doubles at the Thailand Open several years ago and said they were good friends.

"We played doubles one time in the Thailand Open, he's a good friend of mine but now he is going up the rankings a lot. He is a good player and very tough to beat him," he said.

"I know he is an attacking player. He hits a lot of winners.

"I cannot say I am confident to get past the third round but if you play good, it's possible. All I can do is play my best."

The one thing that won't be worrying him is pressure, having already reached the goal he set himself coming into the opening grand slam of the season.

"There's even less pressure now I'm the third round of a grand slam. My goal was just to win the first round and after that has been a bonus," he said.

"I've reached my goal."

He has been receiving a lot of support from Thailand, where he says tennis is rapidly challenging football as the country's most popular sport.

But he also now becomes the last Asian men's player in the draw, which makes him proud.

"I feel good because I am the last one that the Asian people can support. It will help me to keep going," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Great to see a Thai doing well in the Australian Open.

Any news on how this young lady is doing? :tongue::biggrin:

Don't worry Geoff, she's doing OK. :wink:

Maria shines as rival overheats

By Margie McDonald

January 19, 2007 THIS time it was Maria Sharapova's opponent who almost needed to be taken off court on a stretcher as the top seed breezed through her second-round match yesterday.

It was the battle of the blonde Russians as Sharapova took on world No.100 Anastassia Rodionova, who turned up for the match at 6pm on Vodafone Arena wearing sunglasses.

Sharapova went from delusional on Tuesday to brutal yesterday, taking the first set 6-0 in just 23 minutes and leading 5-2 in the second before Rodionova called for the WTA trainer when she felt a twinge in her left thigh muscle.

Rodionova, 24, who began the match with her left knee bandaged, laid on her stomach while most of her upper leg was strapped.

While Rodionova was being treated, Sharapova practised forehand and backhand air swings to keep her muscles warm.

Rodionova returned to hold serve but winced several times trying to get to Sharapova's shots and went down 6-3 on the first of three match points.

Sharapova looked so fresh she was bobbing up and down at the net waiting to shake Rodionova's hand.

The whole affair lasted 58 minutes, or less than a third of the time of her first-round encounter against France's Camille Pin in 40 degrees Celsius-plus heat on Rod Laver Arena.

"I'm getting there, the two-time grand slam champion said when asked if she had recovered from that experience which she described as "inhuman".

"I rested a lot, stayed inside and drank water. There's not too much you can do. But I'm definitely recovered, I feel good physically. It's just good to get a quicker one in today. It can't get any hotter than it did the other day.

"I wanted to get off to a good start and finish it in two this time. I still think I can play a lot better - I'm nowhere near my top level.

"It was hard to gauge how I was doing in the first match, but I'll take a few things from this match and work on them."

On Tuesday, the first set of 47 minutes against Pin was nearly as long as yesterday's match in total.

Sharapova's 21 unforced errors against Rodionova compared with 65 two days earlier showed she had her wits about her.

The Russian's next opponent is the tournament's No.30 seed Tathiana Garbin from Italy. Sharapova is not scheduled to meet a top 10 seeded player until the quarter-finals.

Either fourth seed Kim Clijsters or sixth seed Martina Hingis, who have dropped just nine games between them in eight sets so far, should be waiting in the semi-finals.

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