Monday, Jan 06, 2003
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Tennis
By Nirmal Shekar
Paradon Srichaphan is a popular guy. And the hordes of supporters for him at the Tata Open meet in Chennai bear this fact out. — Photo: V. Ganesan.
In the event, Paradorn Srichaphan is something of an outsider, his values something of an anachronism in this day and age. It was 8.35 p.m. when the second seed from Thailand hit a backhand winner up the line to beat Karol Kucera of Slovakia 6-3, 6-1 and win the Tata Open in front of a passionate audience at a packed Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium on Sunday. A winner he was, then, winner of his third ATP title in five months, winner of $52,000 and one of the front-runners in the year's Champions Race. But these are minor details in the larger picture. Others have won this week, elsewhere in the world of tennis. Others will win next week, the weeks after. The Thai himself will win again doubtless. Where Srichaphan is different, the reason why he is a winner in the ultimate sense is because he has the heart and soul of a rare brand of winner in life. And, in many ways, he had already won shortly before 8 p.m when not even a set had been won and lost. A few hot-blooded youngsters in the packed stands were constantly crying out as Kucera was tossing the ball up to serve. And in the ninth game of the first set, with the Slovakian 3-5 down _ Srichaphan had broken serve in the seventh game _ and serving at advantage, someone cried out so loud that the genial Kucera lost concentration. "Fault'' called the linesman. Kucera looked to the chair umpire with eyes that said it all. And at the other corner of the court, Srichaphan quietly signalled to the official that he would let his opponent have two serves. Kucera, ever the gentleman, was quick to acKnowlesdge the gesture. And those in the crowd who knew what was happening cheered the Thai's sporting gesture too. Those who know, too, how big a difference a first serve can make, especially at that point in the match when everything was hanging in balance, will know the significance of Srichaphan's offer. Well, that lost and regained first serve did not help a strangely wilted Kucera who went on to lose that service game and the first set with it, on the fourth setpoint after saving three in a row. And with that ended the Slovakian's meagre resistance this evening. For Srichaphan won at will in the second set, breaking Kucera in the fourth and sixth games and serving out the match after a shaky start that saw him lose the first two points. Indeed, on an evening when the singles final failed to live up to expectations in terms of competitive intensity, it was that rare gesture which stood out. Kucera did try for a good half hour to match his in-form opponent. But the sheer power and depth of Srichaphan's groundstrokes dismantled Kucera's game and dented his confidence in a big way. About the only suggestion of trouble for Srichaphan came in the fourth game when he was down two breakpoints on serve. But this was a day when he would not lose a single service game, and only four overall. ``I have to give all credit to Paradorn. He is playing great. For me it was a little too noisy and I couldn't play my best,'' said Kucera. "Maybe I will get used to it and win it next year.'' Srichaphan, of course, was ecstatic. This title will power him some distance towards his goal _ the Top Ten. ``I always look forward to coming back here to Chennai. Last year I was in the final here, I have done better now. It is great to win in Asia. My target this year is the top 10,'' said Srichaphan, the first Asian champion here in singles in seven years. Earlier in the evening, in an entertaining doubles final in a stadium that was fast filling out, Julian Knowles from Austria and Michael Kohlmann of Germany won a pair of tiebreaks to beat the Czech pair of Frantisek Cermak and Leos Friedl 7-6(1), 7-6 (3).
In the first set tiebreak, the eventual winners opened up a 6-0 lead and never looked back. But the second set was tougher and, for a while, the Czech pair losing only four games there en route to the final, threatened to take the match into a decider. Knowles, who at one point early in the second set needed medical attention to tend to a problem in his right foot, was broken in the eighth game. But the pair bounced back immediately to break Friedl's serve. What is more, in the 11th game, on Cermak's serve, Knowles and Kohlmann had three breakpoints but the Czechs fended them off to take the set into a tiebreak. Once there, Knowles and Kohlmann raced to 4-2, saw the Czechs inch closer before pulling away to 6-3. And it was all over when Friedl's return of Kohlmann's serve sailed wide.
Final results: Singles: Paradorn Srichaphan (Tha) bt Karol Kucera (Svk) 6-3, 6-1. Doubles: Julian Knowles (Aut) and Michael Kohlmann (Ger) bt Frantisek Cermak and Leos Friedl (Cze) 7-6 (1), 7-6 (3).
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