The Hindu : Sport : Srichaphan makes final

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Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

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Sport

Srichaphan makes final

By Vijay Parthasarathy

ON A ROLL: Paradorn Srichaphan executes a forehand during his semifinal win over Tomas Zib at the Chennai Open. - Photo: R. Ragu

CHENNAI, JAN. 8. For the fourth consecutive year at the Chennai Open, Paradorn Srichaphan has reserved the best seat in the house ahead of the final - right where you can participate pro-actively, and where your ears might implode with the deafening cheers erupting all around.

The Asian powerhouse served strongly and prevailed over the unseeded Tomas Zib, of the Czech Republic, 7-6(5), 6-3 in an absorbing semifinal at the SDAT Nungambakkam Stadium here on Saturday.

After the 2003 champion won the opening game at 30, Zib galloped away with the next three with a mix of extravagant down-the-line forehands and crosscourt backhand jabs. The Thai was broken in the third game after a powerful backhand caught him awkwardly, leaning away towards the opposite direction. Zib served confidently to hold serve in the next game for a 3-1 lead. The top-ranked Asian focused on staying in the set, for the moment, and took the next game with a couple of aces.

Strong backhand

Zib has a strong two-fisted backhand, a weapon that is particularly useful when he begins to probe for the angles. But Srichaphan is the sort of player who loves to swing his arm freely, and his crisp forehand and clean backswing have always helped him hit winners from virtually any position, anywhere on court. Zib, you thought, always ran the risk of playing to his opponent's strengths.

The unseeded Czech was broken in the sixth game, as parity was restored. Srichaphan, however, struggled to hold in his next two service games, as Zib repeatedly hit winners from the back of the court.

The Thai then took a 4-1 lead in the tie-break, only to watch his opponent sweep the next four points. But a lovely lob, which stretched just out of Zib's reach like a leprechaun's rainbow, gave the pumped-up Srichaphan one set point - which he promptly converted with an ace. The first set took an hour and 17 minutes.

Zib, who was playing in his first career ATP semifinal, seemed a little dispirited at this stage; although he began the second set well enough, holding his first two service games at love. But he was broken in the fifth at 15, and from then, the second-seed looked well in control of his destiny - not to mention, his opponent's - and even threw in a couple of more lobs, just for kicks. The Czech nearly gave up another break in the seventh, but managed to finish it off with, what turned out to be, his fourth and final ace.

Zib's 23 unforced errors, as compared to Srichaphan's 13, made a huge difference in the final analysis. While he finished several points with early winners - he had 20; eight more than his opponent - he tended to make unforced errors if his higher ranked opponent somehow managed to retrieve the initial cannon balls.

Zib saved a couple of match-points on his serve before surrendering the match in an hour and 58 minutes. Quite a tame finish, in the end, although Srichaphan kept the crowd suitably entertained with 12 quicksilver aces and those elaborate bows.

"I missed several chances in the first set," a rueful Zib said later at the post match press conference. "Srichaphan is a powerful player; his service is stronger than mine. I made a lot of winners, but in the end, those unforced errors cost me the match."

Fourth final

Srichaphan, a two-time losing finalist here, said he was looking forward to his fourth championship match. "It's good for Asian tennis," he said. "The first set was tough; his backhand down-the-line is so good. I could have lost the first set but I had a great shot 5-5 in the tie-break.

"I tried to slow him down, mix it a little more in the next set and it worked out pretty good."

Srichaphan was optimistic about his chances in the final. "Last year was a close match, Moya won 7-5 in the final tie-break. Of course, you can't predict who will win, but I'll try and get a lot of rest going in tomorrow, so let's hope for the best."

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