Danai expecting vocal support

Thailand's Danai Udomchoke yesterday hoped that the fans would be behind him when he takes on world No 39 Fabio Fognini of Italy this evening in the PTT Thailand Open at the Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani.

Danai was handed a tricky opening round against the sixth-seeded Italian baseliner who is ranked 170 places above him in the match scheduled after the Ivan Dodig-Grigor Dimitrov showdown, the highlight of the day, due at 7pm.

 "I have seen him play several times. He likes to stay at the baseline and loves to play on clay. Although I have never seen him on the indoor carpet, I'm sure he has a solid game. He has been playing well this year. It will be tough," said Danai who will be back in a competition after almost a month out on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.

 "My shoulder is getting better after taking rest for three weeks. I will give my 100 per cent out there and hope a huge crowd will come over to support me," said Danai, who will be playing in his ninth straight Thailand Open.

Also in action this afternoon is local No 2 Kittipong Wachiramanowong who takes on seventh-seeded Ronbin Hasse of the Netherlands around 4pm.

In the second qualifying round, top seed Rainer Schuettler of Germany beat Oliver Marach of Austria  5-1 retd, second-seeded Go Soeda of Japan beat Jose Rubin  Statham of Australia  6-1 7-5, Illya Marchenko of Ukraine  beat Dane Chuntraruk 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-3, sixth-seeded Greg Jones of Australia beat Aviruth Phaphui 6-2 6-3, seventh-seeded Stephane Bohli of Switzerland beat Evgeny Kirillov of Russia 6-3 6-4 and eighth-seeded Marco  Chiudinelli of Switzerland beat Frank Moser of Germany 6-0 1-1 ret.

Tamarine marches on

Meanwhile in Tokyo, Tamarine Tanasugarn won her first WTA match since July when she ousted Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4 6-4 in the US$2.05 Million Toray Pan Pacific at the Ariake Colosseum yesterday.

Hampered by an elbow injury, the Thai veteran had lost all four first round matches on the WTA Tour until yesterday. The Thai ace was obviously was relieved to finally end her losing streak.

 "After Wimbledon, I was struggling to find my form. Even now it's slowly coming back, but at least it is coming," said Tamarine, who plays Maria Sharapova in the second round.

 "I'm not really going into the match thinking about the result. Right now I just need to get my form back," Tamarine said.

Sharapova admits Japan fears

Sharapova yesterday admitted to concerns about playing in the Pan Pacific Open in Japan after the March earthquake-tsunami sparked the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

But the popular Russian said that the presence of seven of the world's top 10 women's players in Tokyo should serve as "a big statement" of support for Japan in a time of crisis.

"There was definitely a lot of talk before the tournament, a lot of players having concerns whether it's safe to come here," Sharapova said.

"I know that a few actually didn't come here because they were a little bit scared."

Before the matches began yesterday, organisers and players held a short ceremony to mourn the devastation wrought by the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami that left more than 20,000 dead or missing along Japan's northeastern Pacific coast.

The disasters triggered a series of meltdowns and explosions at the Fukushima nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo.

World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki said she had been deeply moved at the Japanese people's stoicism.

"It's amazing to see how people are just staying strong and they are living... trying to get back to normal life, even though I know a lot of families have been affected," said the Dane.

"I really think that Japan and Japanese people have done a great job to come back."

Meanwhile Wozniacki admitted she found it tough trying to stay at the top after nearly a year as world No 1.

The Dane lost to Venus Williams in the US Open semi-finals, meaning that she is still without a Grand Slam, but controversially, that has not prevented her from topping the rankings.

"It's very tough to be No 1. But it's even tougher to stay there because everyone wants to beat you," said the 21-year-old, as the first round of the $2.05 million tournament got under way.

"It's always nice to be back to a tournament where you are defending the title. It's a special feeling. I am going to try to do my best to defend it."