Kamonwan Ends Losing Streaks
National Fed Cup player Kamonwan Buayam finally put the end to her losing streaks as she upset fifth seeded fellow countrywoman Peangtarn Plipuech. 6-4 6-2 in the first round of the US$25,000 Singha Cal-Comp & XYZ Printing ITF Women’s Circuit 2 at True Ar
The 20-year-old from Chonburi, after losing five successive first round matches since May had no problem eliminating the exhausted Thai No 2 Peangtarn, who just returned home at the dawn of Monday following a final round appearance in the WTA doubles final in Seoul.
“It gives me a lot of confidence back to finally survive a first round match,” said the 392nd ranked Thai. “I went onto the court not expecting much of myself as I had lost so many but it turned out I was playing well pressure free,” added Kamonwan winner of two ITF trophies last year in Bangkok.
“I was serving well and hitting the backhand well to open the court. In the beginning it was a bit close but after I won the first set, she appeared tired and I seized the opportunity,” added the Thai young star who lost nine kilos in order to enhance her mobility.
Today she lines up a second round clash against last week’s finalist Katarzyna Kawan of Poland a 6-2 6-3 winner over Chinese Zhang Ying.
“I saw her play in the match with Bunyawi (Thamchaiwat) last week. I like her game as she plays similar game like mine. From now on it will be a bonus for me as my tough phase was finally over,” added Kamonwon.
Only three Thais surviving the opening round tests on Tuesday. These included seventh seed Nicha Lertpitaksinchai who used her aggressive baseline game to stem the run of qualifier Plobrung Plipuech6-4 6-2.
Also moving forwards was Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, the only Thai who reached the semi-finals last week. The former junior Wimbledon champion shrugged off a sluggish start to beat Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman 1-6 6-1 6-2.
In the other first round actions, seeded players successfully booked their spots in the second round. Top seed Arina Rodionova of Russia toppled Wei Zhanlan of China 6-3 6-2 while second seed Lu Jia-jing of China bounced back from 3-5 down in the opener to dash the hope of local rising star Bunyawi Thamchaiwat with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 win.
Third seed Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands trounced Chen Jiahui of China 6-2 6-2 while fourth seed Aleksandrina Naydenova of Bulgaria overcame a second set lapse to beat Gai Ao of China 6-3 4-6 6-0.
Sixth seed Shiho Akita of Japan, the runner-up in the previous week, easily tackled Pranjala Yadlapalli of India 6-1 6-0 and eighth seed Tian Ran of China ousted Luara Pigossi of Brazil 6-1 6-1.
Chinese teenager Gao Xinyu, who lifted up her first US$25,000 ITF title on Saturday, beat Thai wildcard holder Nudnida Luangnam 6-4 6-4 and her compatriot Fang Ying Xun of China downed Karman Kaur Thandi of India 7-5 6-1.
