Thai Twins Win Challenger No 42

In the singles final, former world No 8 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia won back-to-back titles by outclassing Chinese dark-horse Li Zhe 6-2 6-3 after one hour and 32 minutes.

The twins appeared to be on the driver’s seat at 5-1 lead in the second set before the French revolution began. Doumbia and Reboul reeled off four games in a row, surviving a match point at 3-5, to level at five all. But the more experienced Thais, winners of two ATP Tour level trophies, regained their momentum to dominate the last two games.

“We became stiff at 5-1 while the other team was more relaxed as they had nothing to lose. We made easy mistakes and they seized the opportunity,” said Sonchat who reached the semi-final with Sanchai here last week.

“We wanted to win so much and gave in to our nerves. But after five all, we became focused again while their game dropped a bit in the end,” the younger Sanchai commented.

The siblings finally won a home Challenger title in almost seven years after their latest occurred at the end of 2010 on this same court. They have collected a total of 56 titles:  two ATP, 42 Challengers and 12 Futures.

“It’s our goal to win the title every time we play a home event. Now we will try to reach the top 70 in the world so that we can play in Grand Slams,” said Sanchai who will surge to near the top 100 today. Tonight both leave for two European events in Germany and France before representing Thailand in the Davis Cup away tie against Kuwait.

Janko Tipsarevic

For Tipsarevic, he achieved what Mikhael Youzhny of Russia did last year by skipping the Australian swing to focus on Bangkok Challenger series and won both. However he will not return to the top 100 on Monday as he will move to around 104.

The four-time ATP winner is in his comeback campaign after being sidelined for 17 months between 2014-15 to undergo and recover from a foot injury.

“Starting 2017 by winning matches means a lot as it gives you confidence for the rest of the year. I came to Bangkok eight days before the tournament to get used to the heat and the condition. So it paid off,” said the 32-year-old Serbian who has the companion of his wife and daughter for the fortnight at the capital.

“It’s hard to assess my performance in 2016 as I started at the half of the season and I was not even fully fit. The difficulty was when you started not physically ready you lost some matches you should have won. But now I’m injury free and physically fit and ready for any challenge. I hope I can go back near where I used to be,” Tipsarevic concluded.