Danai makes it to Aust Open main draw
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Danai Udomchoke booked a berth in the Australian Open main draw after trouncing Peter Polansky of Canada 6-4 6-2 in the final qualifying round yesterday.
The unseeded Danai blasted five aces and relied on his solid first serves to beat his world No 270-ranked opponent in 72 minutes as a dozen Thai fans cheered him on court No 15.
“I’m really happy to make the main draw again. I didn’t come to Australia with a big goal. I just wanted to play my best tennis and I am looking at one match at a time,” said Danai, who is travelling with his wife Charinporn Pinijchop.
“I was serving well and hit well from the baseline. I did a good job in hitting running forehand shots. It is one of the positives that had come from the training camp I had in December,” said Danai, who is ranked 201 in the world.
Under the supervision of Italian coach Alberto Castellani, Danai and fellow players Jimmy Wang and Chen Ti of Taiwan, Hiroki Kondo of Japan and some 10 Thai juniors underwent an intensive one-month training in Bangkok, which helped strengthen mental and physical abilities.
The draw for qualifiers against players in the main draw was conducted last night, while the main draw matches start tomorrow in Melbourne.
