Thailand's Srichaphan defeats Chela for first ATP championship title

Reuters, Commack, New York

Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan rallied past Juan Ignacio Chela to stun the seventh seed 5-7 6-2 6-2 on Sunday and captured his first career ATP title at the TD Waterhouse Cup.

The unseeded Srichaphan defeated his Argentine opponent in this final tune-up event for the US Open and goes to Flushing Meadows in the best shape of his career.

The opening set was closely contested until Chela earned his only break of the match at 5-5 when a Srichaphan backhand caught the tape.

Chela held his own serve to take the set but from that moment on, the Thai player took control.

After sharing the opening four games of the second set, Srichaphan reeled off the next four to take the set.

Srichaphan's confidence continued to grow in the third set and he committed very few unforced errors.

He quickly worked himself into a 5-2 lead and a nervous Chela double faulted to set up triple match point.

After missing long on the first of them, Chela double faulted again to hand the title to Srichaphan

"I've won the title for the Thai people and the Asian people," the elated winner said.

He even changed his shirt during the match to his favorite red, explaining, "Red is the winning color for Thai people, especially on Sunday."

Srichaphan's triumph came in his third final of the year and a week after he fell to American James Blake in the championship match at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington.

"I was really nervous at the beginning and I was playing too carefully. I wanted to win my first title since I missed the chance last week in Washington," Srichaphan said.

"After the first set I didn't feel scared; I just went out and played. It gives me confidence going into the Open."

He has now won 10 of his last 11 matches to improve to an impressive 29-18 win-loss record this season.

Srichaphan became the first Asian player to win a singles title since India's Leander Paes in 1998 at Newport.

He picked up a $51,500 winner's cheque for the victory.

Chela was gracious in defeat.

"Paradorn played better than I did. His serve wasn't as good at the beginning, but then I served so bad.

"I was very strong in the first set but then I got a little tired. He has a strong serve, strong forehand and a strong backhand," he said.