Thailand’s sporting hero Paradorn Srichaphan believes that a week he spent meditating as a monk in a Buddhist temple will help him cope with the highly competitive world of professional tennis.
Paradorn said the experience helped him overturn a 0-2 win-loss record against Czech Radek Stepanek to advance to the second round of the Sydney International on Tuesday.
The world number 50 made the most of limited opportunities to put away seventh-seeded Stepanek 6-3, 6-4 in just less than an hour to set up a clash with big-serving Croatian giant Ivo Karlovic in the round of 16.
”I became a monk for one week, that’s why I changed my hairstyle,” said the shaven-headed Paradorn, who is battling a quad-muscle injury he picked up at last week’s Chennai Open.
”Every Thai man has to do it, so I chose to do the time during my off season and it was a really calm and quiet week for me.
”I am already a calm person on court and now I feel that whatever happens, just let it happen. You can use some of it, maybe 50% or 60% of it, to mix up with your game, like a mental thing.
”Sometimes in tennis you get mad with a line call or with some point that should have been, but what else can you do? You can’t do it again in slow motion, you have to look forward to what happens next, just leave it behind.”
Paradorn’s form has dipped since his halcyon days in 2002/03 when he climbed to as high as ninth in the world rankings, but he believes he can make it back into the top 20 and is hoping next week’s Australian Open will provide the springboard.
”My ranking started dropping because I wasn’t being consistent and there was a lot more expectation on me from home,” he said. ”It’s always more things off the court that you have to think about, which sometimes make you feel under pressure, but now I feel more relaxed.
”If what I have done for the last three years is the best I can do, I will really appreciate that, but I’m still trying for another four to five years in professional tennis,” said the 26-year-old Thai.
Meanwhile, French teenager Richard Gasquet was bounced out of the tournament by Russian Igor Andreev, 6-2, 6-4, but Florent Serra followed up his Australian hard-court title success last weekend with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win in an all-French contest with Fabrice Santoro.
Andreev will play young Australian Peter Luczak, who downed Xavier Malisse in two tie-break sets, while Serra is matched up against Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who knocked out Spanish sixth seed Tommy Robredo 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
Spain’s Carlos Moya fought back from a set down to overhaul Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean in three tough sets, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4), and will now face eighth-seed James Blake of the United States. — Sapa-AFP