Nudnida Beats Slovak Teenager to Reach Hua Hun Semi-final.

Nudnida mixed up a variety of shots to confuse the junior opponent to take the opening set before rain shower suspended play for three hours. The 29-year-old, despite blowing a break lead at 4-2, regrouped her concentration to break for 6-5 and went on to finish the match after one hour and 39 minutes.

“She attacked every ball, so I had to change the pace to get her off rhythm and she would miss especially on crucial points,” said Nudnida, winner of nine ITF titles.

“The rain did not bother me at all as I knew what kind of game she would play. I was serving at 4-3 but she took some risks and surged ahead at 5-4. So I had to stick to my plan again by hitting solidly and deep to make she feel uncomfortable. It worked as she made mistakes and I grabbed the opportunity,” added Nudnida the last Thai hope in the tournament after fifth seed Bunyawi Thamchaiwat went down to  Li Yixuan of China 6-1 4-6 2-6.

The Thai teenager cruised through the first set 6-1 and was up 1-1 and 40-30 ahead before rain halted play. Three hours later things went the other way round with the Chinese lengthening up her defence went back to life to take the match.

“Li has the Chinese signature which is consistent baseline game. She also hit flat ball from the forehand and can change the pace too. I have a tough one waiting for me in the semi-final,” added Nudnida the former world No 195 who began to reclaim her momentum since coming back from an ankle injury.

“When I first came back from the injury break, the court was so small to me and I didn’t know where to hit the ball. Now I start to see more space and know where to hit the ball too. I feel more confident with my game now.”

In the other quarter-final actions, second seed Katahrina Lehnert of the Philippines beat eighth seed Natalija Kostic of Serbia 6-2 6-3 and will set up today’s semi-final showdown with third seed Guo Hanyu of China, a 6-2 7-5 victor over Aki Yamasoto of Japan