Nudnida Comes Back from Brink of Defeat to Beat French-Trained Cambodian Ka.
Former SEA Games silver medalist Nudnida Luangnam staged a great comeback from 0-4 in the final set to beat Cambodian-French Andrea Ka 5-7 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in the long second round tussles of the US$10,000 Cal-Comp & XYZ Printing ITF women’s Pro Circuit 4 at True Arena Hua Hin on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old from Sukhothai, the most senior in the tournament, escaped from two match points at 4-5 and 5-6 in the decisive set to reserve a quarter-final spot after two hours and 57 minutes of exhilarating baseline rallies.
“I really had to dig deep to survive that match,” said Nudnida who finished
and is very smart. Playing her is a good test for me as we kept changing game plans to fight against each other. The turning point was she missed one forehand at 4-3 in the tie-break and lost focus from there.”
The unseeded Thai was among three locals who successfully booked the quarter-final slots. The other were sixth seed Kamonwan Buayam and Varunya Wongetanchai . Either Nudnida or Kamonwan is guaranteed with a semi-final spot as they face each other this morning. The veteran holds a perfect record of 4-0 against the young opponent with their latest meet dating back to 2014.
“Although I’ve never lost to her, she has improved a lot now. These young players are very strong. I have to focus on my game and play one point at a time.”
Kamonwan employed her superior groundtstrokes to beat Natasha Palha of India 6-3 6-2 for her fourth quarter-final appearance of the season.
Kamonwan Buayam
“I didn’t play aggressively enough in the first set which explained while it was a bit close at the beginning. So I stepped up my game in the second set and dictated play,” said the 20-year-old from Chonburi.
“I haven’t been tested much in the first two matches. But against Nudnida whom I have yet to beat is a real test. It’s been a long time since we have competed and I’m a much better player. I’m confident that I can turn things around this time,” said Kamonwan.
Varunya rallied to beat Plobrung Plipuech 5-7 6-1 6-2 to set up a clash with Yu Jin Ahn of South Korea who also needed three sets to get rid of Jessy Rompies of Indonesia 6-4 3-6 6-1. Top seed Natela Dzalamidze of Russia vanquished Chompoothip Jandakate 6-3 6-4 while Japanese eighth seed Chihiro Muramatsu downed countrywoman Mai Hontama 3-6 6-3 6-1.
Haruna Arakawa of Japan stunned third seed Mana Ayukawa of the same country 6-3 6-4 while
Natalija Kostic of Serbia shocked fifth seed Mizuno Kijima of Japan 6-3 6-3.
