Thai twins are in round two
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The company of his wife and toddler daughter proved a morale booster for Sonchat Ratiwatana as he and twin brother Sanchai cleared their first hurdle in the Wimbledon men's doubles on Monday.
The 31-year-old father, travelling for the first time with his wife Jarucha and 16-month-old daughter “Tanya”, dropped one set before he and Sanchai defeated Aljaz Bedene and Grega Zemlja of the Slovak Republic 6-3 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-3).
“It’s a whole new experience for me. Normally, I and my brother are on tour but now there are four of us. It’s fun,” said Sonchat who reached the third round at the Grand Slam event three years ago,
“Having them here really helps me psychologically. I wouldn’t have seen them for two months if I hadn’t brought them along,” added Sonchat.
However, Sonchat did not have the support of little Tanya on the court side as she was too young to watch a tennis game.
“We left her with a nanny. Tanya tends to make noises by the side of courts,” Sonchat said laughing.
“She is learning things and understands some words. But she can’t speak yet.”
Verbal communication at this stage may not be necessary between Sonchat and his daughter. Just looking into her eyes could well mean more than mere words.
“When I saw her after the match, she smiled at me. I could tell from her happy smile that she knew I won the match.”
Meanwhile, playing an opponent less than half her age, veteran Japanese player Kimiko Date-Krumm needed just 44 minutes to defeat German teenager Carina Witthoeft 6-0 6-2 in the first round of Wimbledon yesterday.
Aged 42, Date-Krumm is the second oldest player to have won a match at Wimbledon after Martina Navratilova, who was 47 when she reached the second round in
2004.
The 18-year-old Witthoeft was making her Grand Slam debut.
