JANUARY 30, 2005
Courtesy : Lerpong Amsa-Ngiam (The Nation)

[TENNIS] Former world No 1 Martina Hingis and Thai ace Tamarine Tanasugarn yesterday were placed in a comfortable section after the draw for the US$170,000 (Bt6.8 million) WTA Tournament in Pattaya yesterday.

Hingis will first face Germany's Marlene Weingartner in her first competitive match in two years. The Swiss, who has no ranking because of her absence from the tour since 2002, has defeated the German in their two previous meetings back in 1999 and 2002.

The 73rd-ranked Tamarine, a semi-finalist last year, looks forward to gaining revenge over Russia's Evgenia Linetskaya, who beat her 4-6 6-4 6-0 in Tashkent last year.

Despite Linetskava being 20 places below her in the world rankings, Tamarine said she would not underestimate her opponent, who played a power game in their last meeting.

“I lost to her in that match when she played really good. I need to play smartly and consistently this time,'' said Tamarine, who was realistic about her chances of making at least the quarter-finals, where she is likely to meet world No 11 and top seed Vera Zvonareva.

“This year's field is the toughest because there are so many good players. To make it to the final eight is already a challenge for me,'' said the fully fit Tamarine. She said she had been very strict with her diet recently and has lost a few kilos.

Hingis practised for the second day with rising Thai star Anuwat Dalodom as a hitting partner. The former tennis queen was so stern with her practice that she even threw her racquet at times. In the late afternoon she visited the Father Ray Foundation as part of her charity activities.

Seeded behind Zvonareva are world No 39 Marion Bartoli of France, No 46 Conchita Martinez of Spain and No 52 Mashona Washington of the United States. Other big-names participating this year are former world No 4 Jelena Dokic of Serbia and Montenegro and No 1 doubles player Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.

In yesterday's qualifying round, only two local girls survived the first round. Thai No 4 Monthinee Tangphong staged an impressive performance to trounce Australian Monique Adamczak 6-1 6-2, while Thassha Vittayaviroj scored the biggest win of her career by stunning Puerto Rican world No 144 Vilmarie Castellvi Castillo 5-7 6-1 6-4.

But three other Thais did not make it. Pichittra Thongdach went down to Uzbek Akgul Amanmuradova 6-2 6-0, Nungnadda Wannasuk lost to Olha Lazarchuk of Ukraine 6-2 6-1 and Nudnida Luangnam fell to Julia Vorobieva of Russia 6-06 6-1.