CHENNAI: A day before the rains hit the city and put a halt to the proceedings to the Chennai Open here at the SDAT Tennis Stadium, the event’s top players were putting in the work ahead of their matches. One of them, grinding it out for hours in the hot Sun at Court 1, was World No 80 tennis player from Thailand Mananchaya Sawangkaew.
From starting out in the small town of Sing Buri to defeating a Grand Slam finalist Maja Chwalinska, the 24-year-old has come a long way in Tennis. Born to restaurateurs, Mananchaya moved to Bangkok aged 10. “I trained at an academy backed by Singha Corporation. Then, I moved to the USA to study at the Oklahoma State University for a year. I returned because I knew I wanted to be a full-time pro. I told my family I'm going to focus on tennis. I feel tennis is my job and my dream. They were supportive,” she told this daily on the sidelines of practice.
While she might have built her resume with a slew of ITF title wins in the initial years, her best moments of her career so far came in this year. After winning her first WTA 125 title in Mumbai in February, she announced herself to the world at Wimbledon in July. She defeated French Open finalist Chwalinska in round one of the Grand Slam event. “I liked her style of play and I think it was good to play with her. But I think she got injured during the match. She twisted her ankle. But overall, I try to focus on myself and try to enjoy playing on the grass, where I have not played much,” she said.
Winning the second round match in that tournament was the icing on the cake. She became the first Thai player to reach the third round in Wimbledon since Tamarine Tanasugarn, who went all the way to the quarterfinals in 2008. However, after that high in grand slams, Mananchaya is yet to get a deep run in a WTA tournament as she has been knocked out either in the first or second round after qualifying to the main draw. And the Chennai Open is an opportunity for her to change it. “This is my first year with WTA tournaments. Last year, I suffered a back injury, because of which I couldn’t play for six months,” she said.
Last year, it was her compatriot Lanlana Tararudee who got the applause after her campaign came to an end post a valiant semi final defeat. This year, it could be Mananchaya’s turn. Winning the round of 32 match against Mai Hontama scheduled for Tuesday will be the right step towards a deep run.
Rain washes out Day 1
Just like last year, Day 1 of the Chennai Open was washed out due to persistent rain. The city witnessed rainfall from Sunday night due to Cyclone ‘Murasu’ nearing the coast. Rainfall is expected for Tuesday, according to the India Meteorological Department’s forecast. The cyclone is expected to make its landfall in southern Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.
Select fixtures (from 11.00 am): Centre Court: Linda Fruhvirtova vs Weronika Falkowska followed by Jodie Burrage vs Vaishnavi Adkar followed by Maaya Rajeshwaran vs Katarzyna Kawa; Court 1: Janice Tjen vs Katherine Hui (Not before 12.30pm), Aliona Falei vs Magda Linette; Court 2: Mananchaya Sawangkaew vs Mai Hontama (Not Before 12.30pm).