Srichaphan delivers on Rod Laver Arena
Monday, 13 January, 2003
by Ashley Browne
Thailand's No.11 seed Paradorn Srichaphan got to kick off proceedings on
Centre Court at the Rod Laver Arena for the 2003 Australian Open and lived up
to the lofty billing with an impressive start to the tournament.
Despite a painful finger blister that required treatment from a trainer
midway through the first set, Srichaphan defeated Austria's Jurgen Meltzer
7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 in what was a methodical performance in the hot and
blustery conditions at Melbourne Park.
"I kind of lost my serve in the in the beginning of the third set and then he
started to play well. A big lefty is always tough. But in the fourth set I
started to pick it up a little," he said.
French Open champion and No.8 seed Albert Costa won through to the second-round
but not before a four-set struggle against Germany's David Prinosil. Costa
eventually prevailed 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5). "Yeah, it was a good welcome
for the skin," Costa said.
The No.12 seed, Sebastien Grosjean put a lackluster effort against Andre Agassi
in Saturday's Commonwealth Bank International final behind him with a solid
opening win at Melbourne Park, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 over Fernando Meligeni.
Also through to the second-round is No.17 seed, Argentina's Gaston Gaudio, who
knocked out 1999 Australian Open finalist Thomas Enqvist 7-5, 7-5, 6-2.
Enqvist is still on the comeback trail from foot and shoulder injuries that
derailed him for part of 2002.
Also through to the second-round is Ecuador's Nicolas Lappenti, who beat
France's Jean Benneteau 6-0, 6-4, 6-0. It was only the second competitive
match for the year for the No.24 seed. "I was ahead very quickly in the match
and that gave me a lot of confidence," he said.
Another high-profile winner was South Africa's Wayne Ferreira, who eliminated
highly-rated Spanish youngster Tommy Robredo 5-7, 6-0, 6-3, 6-4. Ferreira was
a quarter-finalist here last year and a semi-finalist in 1992.
Now 31, Ferreira said his priorities in tennis have changed. "It's more fun for
me now. It's all about the enjoyment factor and it's not the end of the
world for me if I lose. But I still think when I step on to the court that
there is nobody out there who really bothers me."
Karol Kucera, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park in 1998 beat Jan Vacek 6-2,
6-1, 6-4.
Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil was the first player through the second round
of the men's draw, making short work of Davide Sanguinetti 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. He
will now play Ferreira.
The host nation has its first player into the second round following Scott
Draper's 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 defeat of Alex Kim from the United States. After
years of drawing highly-ranked players in the first round of the Open, the
Queenslander was relieved to finally record his first win in the opening
round since 1998.
Also through to the second-round was Aussie wildcard recipient Peter Luczak,
who beat Hungary's Attila Savolt 7-5, 6-2, 6-4. The 2003 Australian Open
marks Luczak's first appearance in the main draw at a Grand Slam.
Other first round winners on Day One include Sargis Sargisian, 16th seed
Sjeng Schalken, Mario Ancic, Renzo Furlan, No.29 seed Nicolas Escude,
Spain's David Sanchez (who won 10-8 in the fifth set) and Christophe Rochus.
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Srichaphan真的是紅了…大家都在注意他…要帶著平常心作戰啊…加油！
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