Thai No 1 Luksika succumbs to temptation and heads to French Open

Since her breakthrough performances – a second-round place at the Australian Open and a quarter-final in Kuala Lumpur – the 19-year-old has slipped beneath the radar recently by avoiding her least favourite surface, clay.

She has admitted her distaste for both the slow European dirt and the speedy lawn surface, which is adored by most Thais. Still, she could not resist taking a shot at playing the year’s second Grand Slam, the French Open, where she must first qualify.

“My game doesn’t suit clay because I have flat [fast] groundstrokes, while clay courts are quite slow. I have been training on clay for a week now at the Pyramid Academy, but it’s still a challenge to play my natural game on this surface,” said Luksika, who flies to Paris tomorrow. After the French Open, she will enter two grass-court events, including Wimbledon, where she reckons her hopes of qualifying are not high.

“When I was a junior, I didn’t have good results on either clay or grass. So this is not my favourite time of the year – I’m looking forward to the hard-court season,” said the Thai, currently ranked 119th in the world.

The teenage star known for her aggressive double-fisted groundstrokes says she is feeling the pressure of expectations to break into the top 100. Though she is only 19 places from that target, Luksika says the mission is tough.

“Everybody thought I was so close to reaching the top 100 and thought it would be easy to do so. But at this stage it is not.” She reached a career-high ranking of 118 earlier this month.

“It’s getting tougher and tougher to reach the top 100 now because I’m around 100 points short of getting there,” said the Thai, who has accumulated 560 points.

“But to be honest, I’m not in a rush to get there as right now is not my favourite season. That’s why I am not playing much. But when the hard-court events start, I am hoping to get good results and reach the top 100 before the end of the season.” 

Three Thais are taking aim at Roland Garros, where qualifying starts next week. Along with Luksika, Tamarine Tanasugarn and Thai No 3 Nudnida Luangnam will be in action in Paris. Tamarine, who also dislikes clay, is confining her attention to the doubles, but the 195th-ranked Nudnida, like Luksika, will compete in singles qualifying.

 

Nadal survives Gulbis test 

Defending champion Rafael Nadal endured a three-set thriller before overcoming big-hitting Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis 1-6 7-5 6-4 to reach the Rome Masters quarter-finals.

Gulbis, ranked 46th, and a winner in Rome in 2010 over Roger Federer on his way to the semi-finals, saved two match points in the third set on Thursday, but finally went down when he sent a forehand wide to the massive relief of a dancing, celebrating Nadal.

He will next face compatriot David Ferrer, who advanced in a walkover against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, who was suffering from vertigo.

Nadal was fresh from his Madrid title at the weekend – his record 23rd Masters.

Top seed Novak Djokovic played without ankle pain in a routine 6-1 6-4 defeat of Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Djokovic dispatched Dolgopolov in an hour, with five aces and 13 winners in a contest which began 45 minutes late due to morning rain.

The two-time Rome champion next plays Czech Tomas Berdych, a winner over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-5 6-2.

Djokovic said that he had almost forgotten about his ankle injury since winning the title in Monte Carlo over Nadal last month.

Second seed Federer demolished Gilles Simon 6-1 6-2 and set up a meeting with Jerzy Janowicz after the Pole knocked out Richard Gasquet, the ninth seed, 3-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-4.