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Thai Tennis Open hopes for post-SARS
winner
By Robin Newbold
BANGKOK - What with the war in the Middle East,
the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis and
even the Rolling Stones' dubious postponement of their
Thai concert, Thailand has been looking for a good news
story to boost its flagging tourist industry. Thus the
government has invested 150 million baht in the Thailand
Tennis Open to lure the Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP) tour for a five-year run.
There is no doubt tourism has been hit hard.
According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT),
arrivals were down 50 percent compared with 2002 in the
month of May at the height of the panic. Airlines, hotel
owners and Patpong bar girls have been wringing their
hands at the lack of trade, with tourist arrivals
plummeting by 12.5 percent in March alone as a result of
the war and SARS. The government forecasts that tourism
revenue will be off by about 782 billion baht (US$1.7
billion) if arrivals return to normal by the end of the
third quarter.
Thai government and business
leaders intend to use the tournament partly to showcase
Paradorn Srichapan, one of Asia's most popular sports
stars and a Thai icon so acclaimed that he was recently
named a cultural ambassador and handed a diplomatic
passport. The TAT, the Lawn Tennis Association of
Thailand (LTA) and Thai Airways believe so strongly in
Paradorn's pulling power and that of the tournament
itself that they are backing the tour for a five-year
run.
It will be the "second-biggest tennis
tournament in Asia, following the Japan Open", said an
enthusiastic Suwat Liptapanlop, the president of the
LTA, at a recent promotional conference. The numbers
seem to bear him out, since there is as much as $550,000
in prize money up for grabs, making it the region's
richest tourney. Top stars such as world No 6 Andy
Roddick, Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero (world No 2) and
Carlos Moya (4) and Jiri Novak (10) of the Czech
Republic have already confirmed their appearance.
Organizers BEC Tero Entertainment are learning a
tough lesson, however, in that if they want the very
biggest names, they are going to have to pay for them.
Negotiations are still under way to capture the
signature of world No 1 Andre Agassi, but the American
ace has reportedly asked a staggering $400,000 just to
show up. "We are still negotiating," said Tero's Brian
Marcar. "I hope he will come."
One possible
drawback for fans and certainly one of the reasons
Thailand rarely gets the opportunity to hold large
sporting or entertainment events is the lack of
infrastructure. They may be discouraged by the fact the
competition is taking place at Bangkok's Impact Arena,
an out-of-the-way place more suited to rock concerts
than professional tennis matches. Still, it would be
nice to think some of the money made over the five years
will be plowed back in so the nation can get some
decent, accessible sports stadia and possibly encourage
a few more budding Paradorns.
Said the LTA's
Suwat: "The event puts Thailand on the center stage of
the sporting world and will be a boost for the country's
economy, especially in the field of tourism." Though
there are only 5,000 seats available daily at the arena,
it's hard to argue with the organizer's claims since TV
coverage has an approximate footprint of 100 million
viewers. The event is to be broadcast live on Thai TV
Channel 3 and throughout the world on major cable
channels such as ESPN and the British Broadcasting Corp.
Tourney sponsors are anticipating that the event would
presumably portray Thailand in a positive light across
the globe. There are even plans, backed by the TAT, to
buttress each break in action with short commercials
showcasing the nation's many attractions.
The
press conference unveiling Paradorn to the media
descended into a predictable feeding frenzy. But
face-to-face, the 24-year-old star looked unruffled and
rather bemused at the morning's attentions, is if he
shouldn't really be there. True to his diplomatic
status, he uttered all the right platitudes. "Since I
was a kid I dreamed of playing a professional tournament
one day in front of Thai fans," he said smilingly.
Smelling vaguely of expensive cologne and with
his immaculately gelled hair and rehearsed smile, he
appeared more like a male model than an athlete. The
presence of a quietly ruthless Agassi or the snarling
aggression of a Lleyton Hewitt was lacking, even though
Paradorn's rise up the professional tennis rankings has
been truly remarkable - from just inside the top 100 at
the beginning of 2002 to being the current world No 11.
However - and this must be a worry for the Thailand
Open's organizers - who are unashamedly looking for
local success to drum up publicity, many see the Thai
star's even temperament as a major weakness and believe
he hasn't got what it takes to win a major tournament.
This opinion evoked a nervous chuckle from
Paradorn, perhaps with one eye on his Thai sponsors, and
he replied: "It's just the way I am on the tour, it's
more fun to be friends with everyone."
At
Wimbledon this month he was sent packing when he faced
his first real hurdle, Roddick, in the fourth round. (He
was thumped again in straight sets on Sunday by Roddick
at the RCA Championship in Indianapolis in the United
States.) He has never reached beyond that stage of a
Grand Slam tournament but has two professional titles to
his name. Despite having break points in the third set
and having won the second, does he think he blew it at
Wimbledon? "I could have beaten him if I played a bit
better," he said smiling but didn't look totally
convinced. "Yeah, I had break points in the third but he
could have come back and won the fourth and fifth
[sets]."
So what went wrong at Wimbledon? "I
tried really hard but he [Roddick] came back strongly,
my body and physical fitness were lacking."
But
does he think he could win a Grand Slam event? "Yeah,"
he said with a pause. "It's possible but I have to dig
it out. It's tough but you never know."
Does he
have to be nasty to win though, or could he win by being
nice? "I need to be more aggressive," he conceded
finally.
Indeed, many commentators believe
Paradorn has the ability but that a change in direction
- ie, by replacing his father, Chanachai, as coach - is
needed if he's to make a sustained assault on the world
top 10 and have a real impact at the majors.
Unfortunately, his dad was on hand and in an
unprecedented show of paranoia that spoke volumes
refused to even let reporters broach the
subject.
The organizers of the Thai Open will
certainly be hoping that the local star can find that
higher gear and the mental toughness required to go all
the way at the September event. It appears Paradorn has
little choice in the matter of coach, though if he
doesn't fulfill his obvious potential soon he may be
unable to resist the growing clamor for change,
particularly with the added spotlight of the
Bangkok-based event.
What about meeting Roddick
in the final of the Thailand Open? "It would be fun to
play him again," the star said before the meet on
Sunday, not looking overly confident as he unleashed a
big grin. "But Andy is a great player, he hits winners
on almost every service return and hard courts are his
favorite surface."
At least he doesn't appear to
be feeling the expectation of being Thailand's No 1
sports star, now worth $1.4 million in career winnings.
"I don't feel the pressure at all," he said, fixing me
with his brown eyes. "I don't get nervous at all on
court, I try and put it behind me."
He jetted to
the States immediately after the interview in
preparation for August's US Open and, when asked his
ambitions: "I'll try to do better than last year when I
lost in the second round. Last 16, I guess," he said
almost apologetically.
Though surely a player
ranked 11th in the world, playing on his favorite
hard-court surface, should show a bit more desire,
there's a sense that the 100-watt smile may win over
tennis fans but it won't win tournaments, unfortunately.
I wonder what the answer would be if the same question
were posed to, say, Lleyton Hewitt?
Thailand's
organizers, for one, will certainly be hoping so, but
it's obvious that even though he doesn't admit it,
there's a lot of expectation on this young man's
shoulders. Yes, Paradorn has a lot to live up to but is
bound to come through smiling no matter what the outcome
- and that could be the best advertisement of all for
this so-called Land of Smiles.
(Copyright 2003
Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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