Thai Srichaphan loses to non-seeded de Voest
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)