Published on Apr 25, 2006
Courtesy : The Nation
By Lerpong Amsa-ngiam  

Thailand's Danai over the moon after joining top 100

Thai men's No 2 Danai Udomchoke finally had a weight lifted from his shoulders when he was officially ranked inside the world's top 100 players for the first time, according to the ATP computer yesterday.

The 24-year-old, who almost lost his life due to asthma as a child, was relieved to realise his dream of breaking into the top 100 after his victory in a challenger tournament in Chikmagalur in India on Sunday.

"I feel like I'm in heaven now. The pressure that I had for a long time is gone. It's a load off my shoulders,'' said Danai, who rocketed from No 114 last week to his career high of No 98.

Danai has written a new chapter in the history of Thai tennis by becoming only the second Thai in the top 100 players in the world after Paradorn Srichaphan in 2002. "I always said I wanted to be in the top 100 in the past, but I never really believed I could make it because it was not easy. Now it's like a dream come true,'' the country's No 2 player said.

But Danai had to navigate a rocky road on the way to realising his dream. He almost gave up hope earlier this year after suffering a series of first round exits which drained his confidence.

It was only when Thailand played Japan in a Davis Cup tie earlier this month that he regained his confidence. He won a five-set marathon against Go Sueda which lasted longer than four hours and it was his first win in many months.

However, the pressure to break into the top 100 almost had the better of him during his final Davis Cup match against Japan's Thoshihide Matsui. Danai was up with two match points at 5-2 and 40-15 when he started thinking about his ranking. "I was thinking about the top 100 so much that it made me scared to hit the ball," he recalled. "He took the opportunity to get back into the match, but I was lucky to pull it off in the end,'' added Danai, who played with three injured fingers in the match.

Now that his dream has come true, Danai has yet to set a new goal in his tennis career. What he is concerned about now is how to maintain his top 100 ranking with about 200 points to defend in the next few weeks.

"From now on, my priority is to hold the ranking as long as I can," he said. "I have so many points to defend. Of course, I would love to achieve more, but there is no clear plan,'' added Danai, who is looking for back-to-back titles when he plays in Dharwad in India this week. He is seeded second and will play Australian Luke Bourgeois in the first round.