Thailand to host World Tennis event again

The Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand (LTAT) president said the overall picture of the organisation of the exhibition received compliments from the six invited players, including world No 7 and tournament winner Tomas Berdych, which convinced him to keep the event going.

“I believe from the impressions players and fans have from this event, we will make it the tournament of the country in the future. We shall have this tournament again next year but we may have to change the format to make it even more exciting for the fans,” said Suwat.

The tournament featured six players, including world No 8 Milos Raonic, No 10 David Ferrer, No 19 John Isner, No 20 Fabio Fognini and No 26 Richard Gasquet of France. With the two top seeds receiving byes, the remaining four play a knock-off stage with losers battling for the fifth and third places. 

Suwat said he would try to invite higher-ranked players in the world to strut their stuff in front of the fans next year while Hua Hin should be the perfect location.

“Hua Hin is suitable for this event in many sense, as many foreigners love to visit and the players like to bring their family for vacation. At the same time, it’s the perfect place for them to warm-up for the Australian Open where conditions are similar,” the tennis chief added.

Even world No 7 Berdych from the Czech Republic was impressed by the organisation of the event, which was staged to replace the ATP Thailand Open.

“It’s a great event, very well organised and I’m pleased to be a part of it. Even though it’s just the first year, the service that has been provided is of a high level,” said Berdych who beat Raonic 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in Friday’s final, avenging his loss to the Canadian in the ATP Thailand Open final in 2013.

“I wouldn’t think it was a revenge. For me it was a good way to start the year. I moved very well from both wings and my tennis is going in the right direction. Basically I changed my whole team. It’s something new and I like the way we are working together,” added the former Wimbledon finalist who left for an ATP event in Dubai. However, it’s the Australian Open, where he reached the semi-final last year, that the Czech is more focused on.

“I like to have my chance there in Australia. It’s two weeks from now. I want to take it the way that I set up with my team. I still need some more matches to get ready and try to keep my body fresh for the big event in Australia. I will try to dig deep and win match by match and hope to have good results.”