Published on Mar 04, 2005
Courtesy : The Nation Agencies

[TENNIS] Danai Udomchoke is pitted against old rival Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan in the opening rubber of their regional qualifying tie on grass at the Lahore Gymkhana today.

At yesterday's draw, the Thai No 2 was listed to kick off the Thai campaign with the Pakistani No 1 against whom he holds a 3-2 advantage in their head-to-head clashes which date back to 1999.

Despite a better record against the Pakistani, Danai expects a difficult time against the world No 214 whose serve and volley style suits the grass surface.

“It will be tough because he is more of a grass court player than I am. The court here is OK but it is slippery sometimes,” said the 209th-ranked Danai, who has one minor problem – no shoes suited to grass.

“I hardly play on grass so I don't have a particular pair of shoes for it. It's a little bit difficult to move with my current shoes which are made for hard courts,” said Danai who nevertheless showed he was no slouch on grass by reaching the last qualifying round at Wimbledon last year.

While the outcome of the match is hard to predict, Thailand is more likely to secure the second rubber as Thai No 1 Paradorn Srichaphan should have no problem handling the 357th-ranked Aqeel Khan.

Thailand lost all three previous Davis Cup ties in Pakistan in 1998, 1989 and 1984, but the presence of world number 33 Paradorn will give them an edge despite playing on grass.

“Pakistan is looking for an upset victory but that's unlikely to happen. I'm confident we will bring the victory home, and for my part I can guarantee that I'll produce two points from this tie,” said Paradorn whose father is the team's captain.

Thailand named twin brothers Sonchai and Sanchai Ratiwatana for the doubles against Qureshi and Khan tomorrow, but Sonchai is suffering a sore throat from the cool temperature in Lahore. The reverse singles will be played on Sunday.

Pakistan's non-playing captain Mohammad Khalid agreed Paradorn was a good player and might prove the deciding factor.

“But you can't depend on one player to win a Davis Cup tie. In the same manner we have Aisamul Haq, who is also a match winner,” Khalid said.

Pakistan's Haq is ranked well below Paradorn, at 214 in the Association of Tennis Players (ATP) rankings, while Pakistan number two Aqeel Khan is ranked 375.

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