Courtesy : The Nation
Lerpong Amsa-ngiam
Published on April 24, 2005

Heat takes a toll on the Patong court

The first day of the Fed Cup World Group II tie between Thailand and Croatia ended in a 1-1 draw as the players suffered in the intense heat at Patong Beach yesterday.

In humid conditions with temperatures soaring to 38-40 degrees, giving local players an edge over their rivals, Thai No 1 Tamarine Tanasugarn was briefly tested by Sanda Mamic before winning 7-5 6-1 in one hour and 17 minutes.

But world No 49 Jelena Kostanic levelled for the tourists when she outlasted a stubborn Suchanan Viratprasert 7-5 4-6 6-3 in a marathon match lasting three hours and three minutes. Both players rushed back to the air-conditioned comfort of their hotel after the match without speaking to the media because they were exhausted.

The Thai team could have gone 2-0 ahead if Suchanan converted one of her four break points at 3-3 in the final set. But she ran out of steam and lost her match to Kostanic and received treatment after the game for heat exhaustion.

The oven-like conditions were meant to favour the Thai side, but the tactic may backfire if Suchanan cannot recover in time for today's match. But the Thai team's assistant manager, Phissanu Atthakornsiripho, remained optimistic about day two.

“I'm pretty confident Tamarine will win one point on Sunday and Suchanan can beat Mamic. I think we will seal the victory in the singles rubbers,” said Phissanu, who insisted Suchanan's condition's is not serious.

“She just felt a bit tired and a bit dizzy. She's going to be fine and fit for Sunday,” he said.

While the weather caused trouble for Suchanan, Tamarine exploited the conditions to wear down Mamic, making the Croatian run from corner to corner.

“I have to thank the weather because it helped me,” said Tamarine. “I had an advantage with the weather and she obviously had problems with it. If we played somewhere else, she could have played better.

“The first set was really difficult and could have gone either way. I just tried to hang in there and get the ball back. The conditions were tough for both of us,” added the Thai tigress, who scored her first singles win since February in Hyderabad.

Tamarine will start today's programme against Croatian No 1 Jelena Kostanic at 10am. Channel 11 and UBC SuperSport will show the match live.

“She is very tough mentally. She can play various shots and slices the ball,” said Tamarine.

“She has been in Thailand several times and should be used to the weather. It will be a tough match tomorrow,” added Tamarine, who has shared hotel rooms and practised with Kostanic on tour.

The fourth rubber today is Suchanan against Mamic. The tie will end with the doubles match when Napaporn Tongsalee and Monthinee Tangphong take on Kostanic and Mamic.

However, Thailand is likely to field Tamarine and Napaporn if they split a 2-2 tie with Croatia from the singles rubbers.

In the match between Tamarine and Mamic, both held serve until 5-5. Mamic started well and her serve troubled the Thai, but as the heat started to take its toll errors crept into the Croatian's game.

Tamarine grabbed the opportunity and broke to lead 6-5. She went on to serve out a love game to win the first set in only 47 minutes.

Mamic then wasted a lot of energy holding serve in the long opening game of the second set, which took its toll. The Croatian, who poured water on her neck during the match, then hit the wall and almost stopped running.

Tamarine then reeled off six games in a row to win the set 6-1 and take the match.

In the other match yesterday, Kostanic broke Suchanan to

win the first set 7-5. But the momentum swung to the Thai's favour in the second set as Suchanan broke her error-prone rival for a 5-2 lead. After Kostanic reduced the gap to 5-4, the referee halted play for 10 minutes because of the heat. The Thai returned to serve a love game and levelled the match at 1-1.

Suchanan fought back from 0-2 down in the final set to level at 3-3 and appeared to hold all the aces with a triple chance to break at 40-0. But the gutsy Kostanic gave her all to hold that game which became the turning point of the match.

She then dominated play as a tired Suchanan ran out of gas.