Courtesy : The Nation
Lerpong Amsa-ngiam
Published on April 22, 2005

[TENNIS] The absence of their leading star, Karolina Sprem, notwithstanding, Croatia are confident of surviving the scorching heat and the challenge posed by Thailand in the Fed Cup World Group II tie at Patong Beach during the weekend.

Team captain Goran Prpric said he was not overly concerned about the violence in the South or the natural disasters that have plagued the region in the last year, believing his team is good enough to handle the local squad made up of the Kingdom's top four players.

“Even though we don't have Karolina with us, we still have two others who can play as well as her,'' said Prpic, who insisted that he and his team had no fear coming to the island.

Croatia are to field No 2 player Jelena Kostanic, ranked No 49 in the world, and Sanda Mamic, No 96, for both the singles and doubles matches. Nika Ozegovic and Matea Mezak, the replacement of Sprem who withdrew from the tie due to illness, are the other team members.

“We came here with the belief that we are going to win. The players will try their best to win,'' said Prpic, a former top 20 player on the ATP tour.

Saturday's first rubber will be between Thai No 1 Tamarine Tanasugarn and Mamic, who will be facing each other for the first time. Suchanan Viratprasert and Kostanic will square off in the second rubber. All matches will be shown live on Channel 11 and UBC 35 from 11am onwards.

The sun-tanned Mamic joked about the conditions in Phuket. “I thought it was going to snow,” she laughed before turning more serious and saying she had no worries about taking on Tamarine on home soil but was rather concerned about the weather.

“This is going to get to me. It's a little bit too cold out here,'' said Mamic, who hails from Zagreb.

Kostanic, who, like Mamic, is left handed, said she knew little about Suchanan, ranked 202 in the WTA. But she doesn't find facing an unknown opponent a problem that causes her sleepless nights.

“I know her ranking but have little information about her. But it doesn't matter who I play as I have to play well in every match,'' said the 23-year-old.

Being the underdog, Suchanan will need to summon up all her weapons to pull off an upset win over the Croatian whom she used to watch on television. Her best career win to date was in the tie against Australia last year where she beat Nicole Pratt.

“Kostanic hits very hard so I have to hang in there and hit the balls back. I have discussed with the team and I have a plan to play her. The Croatians have been saying that they have come here on a mission to win, we are also here on a mission too,'' said an inspired Suchanan, who got a big ovation when the draw was announced yesterday.

Still, Thailand will be relying heavily on Tamarine and she is undoubtedly the key to the Kingdom's success. She is expected to win a point on the first day.

In fact, the surface of the 4,000-capacity stadium was made fast, especially to suit her game although in the end it will be stamina that really matters.

On Sunday, Tamarine will start her match against Kostanic at 10am. It will be followed by the match between Suchanan and Mamic. Thailand named Napaporn Tongsalee and Monthinee Tangphong to take on Kostanic and Mamic in the doubles. But Thai captain Wittaya Samrej might change the doubles combination should the tie decide the winner.