Favourite canters into Bangkok QF
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Top seed Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia enjoyed a comfortable passage into the quarter-finals of the US$50,000 Chang-SAT Bangkok Open after Toichi Matsui of Japan retired with a stomach upset during their second-round match.
In hot and breezy conditions at Rama Garden Hotel, the former world No 68, now at 126, was leading 6-4 2-1 when the Japanese decided to throw in the towel.
“I knew one break was going to be good enough and I achieved it in the first set.
“I think I had the match under control. I’m happy I didn’t have to spend more time on court because it was really tough out there,” said Kavcic who has had only a few days to acclimatise to the hot and humid conditions on his first visit to the Kingdom.
Kavcic is looking for a solid result here following the disappointment of failing to qualify for the US Open. He next goes up against 2010 finalist Alexander Kudryavtsev of Russia, whose aggressive baseline game overwhelmed Thailand’s last hope Kittipong Wachiramanowong 6-4 6-2 in just 69 minutes.
“I have practised with [Kudryavtsev] many times so we both know each other’s game. It will be a tough match because he is a really good hitter. He hits the ball very fast [and] in these fast conditions, he can be dangerous.”
In the tournament’s biggest upset so far, second-seeded Benjamin Mitchell of Australia was knocked out by Jeong Suk-young of South Korea 6-2 6-1.
The 20-year-old Jeong will next take on last year’s runner-up Yuichi Sugita, who won an all Japanese affair 6-1 6-3 against Yasutaka Uchiyama.
In the doubles quarter-finals, Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana blew a one-set lead to lose 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 to Taiwanese pair Ti Chen and Huang Liang-chi.
