The Thailand Open yesterday saw “Amazing Twins” Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana keep hopes alive for homegrown victory in the doubles competition with a decisive win, while the remaining two Thai hopefuls in the singles competition were routed by their opponents.
The siblings (despite the nickname, not twins), who became the first Thais to win the competition in 2007, fought back to beat Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Australia’s Marinko Matosevic (6-4, 6-3) in just 59 minutes yesterday evening to make it into the quarter finals of the main draw at Nonthaburi’s Impact Arena.
“We have never won a first-round match here, except in 2007, so victory today is very satisfying,” older brother Sonchat told the Nation.
“We were lucky to win crucial points and miss very few shots. We are playing pretty consistently this year and have a lot of confidence. But we want to focus on one match at a time,” the younger Sanchai added.
The brothers will on Friday face the winners of a match between France’s Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon, and Spain’s David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco. That match will be played this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Kittipong ‘Pong’ Wichiramanowong, who upset New Zealander Daniel King-Turner in two straight sets on Sunday, was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by fourth-seeded Hiroki Moriya of Japan in the final qualifying round yesterday afternoon.
Later in the afternoon on Center Court, local wildcard Peerakiat Siriluethaiwatta was hopeless against German Philipp Petzschner, who won 6-1, 6-2 in 57 minutes.
The Thailand Open finals will take place on Sunday, September 20, with US$608,500 in prize money up for grabs. Last year’s winner was Britain’s Andy Murray, who has since taken his career to new heights earning an Olympic gold medal and winning the U.S. Open.
Thailand Open matches will be broadcast on Channel 3, and for scheduling and ticket purchase information, visit the Thailand Open website.
