Thai Srichaphan loses to non-seeded de Voest

JAKARTA (JP): Top-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand had to make an early exit after losing 2-6, 7-5, 4-6 to qualifier Ric de Voest of South Africa in the second round of the Men's Indonesian Fertilizer Future 4 at the Kemayoran Tennis Center on Wednesday.

Indonesia's top players, Andrian Raturandang and Suwandi, were also upset in the US$15,000 tournament while Hendri Susilo Pramono, Dede Suhendar Dinata, Sebastian da Costa and Febi Widhiyanto cruised to the quarterfinals.

World ranked 801 Andrian lost 2-6, 3-6 to third-seeded and world No. 378 Vadim Kutsenko of Uzbekistan while Suwandi, ranked 929th in the world, was defeated 6-7, 3-6 by junior Surya Wijaya.

Tennis commentator Benny Mailili said world No. 202 Srichaphan, who managed to reach the 1999 Wimbledon second round two weeks ago, had applied the wrong strategy against de Voest.

"He has been accustomed to playing at grass-court Wimbledon, where he had to hit the ball hard. That caused him lots of unforced errors. While de Voest was able to use his slices and top spins to return Paradorn's offensive strokes," said Benny, adding that Srichaphan made about 60 percent unforced errors.

"De Voest should have won in straight sets because Paradorn did not attack him. He only waited for the ball at the baseline," he said.

Benny said Thailand would likely send Srichaphan and elder brother Narathorn Srichaphan to the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15.

"Thailand is a level better than Indonesia, with or without its world-class players, including women's singles' Tamarine Tamasugarn," he said.

Benny, who is also Pelti's deputy secretary-general and spokesman, was disappointed with Suwandi's performance. Suwandi is in the SEA Games team with Hendri, Febi and Yusmawan Fahmi. Yusmawan failed to perform in the tournament as he is still competing in the Universiade in Mallorca, Spain.

"Suwandi is really unpredictable. His performance depends on his mood. His loss created pessimism on his chances in the SEA Games," he said.

In men's doubles second round, Thailand's Srichaphan brothers beat Indonesia's top duo of Bonit Wiryawan and Sulistyo Wibowo 6- 2, 2-6, 6-2. Bonit and Sulistyo just won the Future 3 on Monday.

The other local doubles' teams of Hendri and Febi, Edo Bawono and Sebastian da Costa, and second-seeded pair Andrian Raturandang and South Korean Yoon Yong-il all reached the semifinals.

The top-seeded doubles' team of Ashley Ford of Australia and Niko Karaginnis of Greece secured a semifinals place after defeating Indonesia's Suwandi and Surya Widjaja 6-4, 6-4. (ivy)