Published on June 22, 2004

Thai tennis fans have someone else to root for at this year’s Wimble-don after Danai Udom-choke came back from the threshold of defeat to beat Austrian Stefan Koubek in his first round match which had been postponed from Monday because of bad light.

After the match was stalled at

3-3 in the final set on the first day due to bad light, the two renewed their rivalry on court nine yesterday and the Thai fought back after trailing at 5-6 and 30-30 – two points from making an exit – to win the marathon encounter 5-7 6-4 4-6

6-3 8-6.

Danai’s victory was some consolation for local tennis fans after compatriot and local No 1 Paradorn Srichaphan was outperformed by Marat Safin of Russia on Monday. For the first time in his life, the young man who has had to live in Para-dorn’s shadow grabbed the spotlight.

It was his first win in a Grand Slam match after qualifying for the 2004 US Open, only to lose to Tommy Robredo of Spain in round one.

Battling his way through the qualifying rounds at Wimbledon, Danai also had to overcome an injury to his left leg which he sustained in the first set on Monday. “I felt pain when I finished the first set,” Danai told The Nation yesterday minutes before resuming his match.

“I just tried to play and hit every ball and they went in. I felt pain when I served and returned. Sometimes, I just let the ball pass my face,” added the 161st-ranked Danai, who went to bed on Monday night worried that he may be unable to play the next day.

“Last night I felt a lot of pain. I thought I would not be able to play today. But today I felt a bit better, even thought there was still some pain,” said the 23-year-old, who picked up a tennis racquet in a bid to cure the asthma which almost took his life as a child.

With the injury hampering his movement on Monday, Danai thought his match against Koubeck, ranked No 78 in the world, would be over in the fifth set. Luckily, the chair umpire suspended play due to bad light.

“I felt pain and he was getting tired. So I think it’s good for both of us,” said Danai, who has a big hurdle waiting in round two today.

He will face the 10th-seeded Mario Ancic of Croatia, who won his first career title in a Wimbledon warm-up in the Netherlands on Sunday. The world No 17, a semi-finalist last year, is a grass court specialist and beat German Tobias Summerer in straight sets 6-3 7-5 6-1 in his first round match.

“At this point, I have nothing to lose,” said Danai.

The Thai saved a few set points in the 10th game, but could not escape two games later when he lost his serve and allowed Koubek to take the opening set 7-5. He made one break in the second set which was enough for a 6-4 win and to level the match at 1-1.

A crucial break in the 10th game gave Koubek the third set at 6-4 and a 2-1 set lead over Danai. But the Thai never gave up, levelling the match by taking the fourth set 6-3 to force the decider.

Despite having an early break and building a 2-0 lead, Danai could not hold on to his advantage. With the score at 3-3 in the decider, play was suspended as dusk approached.

When play resumed yesterday, Danai lost his serve at the start, but broke right back to level at 4-4. Danai was then ahead at 5-4, but lost the next two games and the left-handed Koubek was serving for the match at 6-5.

But the tough little Thai hung in there to break his rival and get back in the match at 6-6. And after Danai saved several break points in the long seventh game which he finally held, it seemed the challenge from Koubek was over. Danai converted his first match point opportunity to wrap up the fifth set 8-6.