Varunya Toughs it Out for Upset Win.
The Nation [TENNIS] Despite blowing away a huge lead at 5-1 in the second set, Varunya Wongteanchai recollected her concentration to upset seventh seed Lee So-Ra of South Korea 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 in the first round of the US$10,000 Cal-Comp & XYZ Printing ITF women’s Pro Circuit 4 at True Arena Hua Hin on Tuesday.
The semi-finalist in the third circuit here three weeks ago was just one game away from the match at 6-1 5-1 but slipped her chance away and allowed the 547 th ranked to come back to life. The Thai, however, gritted her teeth to fight back in the third set and successfully closed the deal in almost three hours.
“I felt really down after I lost the second set. All of a sudden she played solid tennis and came up with winner after winner while I was erratic,” said the 23-year-old from Chiang Rai.
“But I told myself to give it a go one more time in the third set. Both of us were really tired as the set went on. So I intensified the attack to break her for 4-3 and never gave her chance from then on. I was really patient which was the key,” added Varunya who will set up an all Thai second round match with rising star Plobrung Plipuech
Plobrung, who just celebrated her 19th birthday on Saturday, played with knee injuries to beat Uzbek qualifier Komola Umarova 6-2 7-5.
“Although I beat Plobrung in a local event earlier this year, she has been playing well in Hua Hin. I cannot under estimate her even though she has injuries,” Varunya said.
Having tape and bandage wrapped around her knee and leg, Plobrung took a few weeks off and just picked up the racquet four days ago. She admitted not in the best shape.
“I have had the injuries since the last circuit in October. I still couldn’t find my momentum in my first match. I just tried to keep the ball in play.”
In the other first round matches, Chompoothip Jindakate reached her first second round in an ITF event this season with an upset win over Michika Ozeki of Japan 6-4 6-3. Nudnida Luangnam beat Eri Shimizu of Japan 6-1 4-6 6-2.
Third seed Mana Ayukawa of Japan toppled local wildcard entrant Manachava Sawangkaew 6-1 6-1. Fifth seed Mizuno Kijima of Japan moved past Ling Zhang of China 6-3 7-5, Haruna Arawaka of Japan beat Jawairiah Noordin of Malaysia 6-2 3-6 6-4 and Natalija Kostic of Serbia beat Dabin Kim of South Korea 1-6 6-4 5-1 (ret).
