Danai Udomchoke bounces back to beat Rik De Voest in the first round – Seoul Challenger 2012
World number 153, Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, made a remarkable come back to topple the 207th ranked player from South Africa, Rik De Voest, in three sets 0-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 in the opening round of the Samsung Securities
Cup Challenger Tennis event in Seoul on Tuesday. The Thai player needed two hours and 24 minutes to claim victory after a tough battle.
Voest played flawlessly in the first set, as he did not allow Udomchoke to win even a single game from start to finish, breaking the Thai player three times and consolidating on all of them to win 6-0.
The South African did not have impressive statistics on his serve, as he did not hit even a single ace. The 32-year-old maintained a first serve percentage of just 65 and grabbed nine of the 13 points on them. The right-hander,
however, made the most of his opponent’s weak second deliveries, claiming 10 of the 12 points on them.
Voest further strengthened his position at the start of the second set, as he hit a blow to the Thai contender in the second game to attain a 2-0 lead. However, Udomchoke struck back immediately to drew level at 2-2. Rest of the
set went with serves, squaring off the proceedings at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. Udomchoke earned a couple of mini-breaks and capitalised on them to triumph 7-6(3).
The Thai number one neither hit any ace nor committed any double fault in the second set. He converted 17 of the 28 first and 15 of the 25 second deliveries into points. The 31-year-old managed to save three of the four break points
he faced and utilised one of the two opportunities he created.
Voest drew the first blood in the final set, as he stung a break in the very first game to go up 1-0 but the South African could not consolidate on it, equalising the score at 1-1. Udomchoke struck again in the fourth and capitalised
on that advantage to capture it 6-3.
The Thai national will lock horns with the fourth seed, Malek Jaziri, in the second round.
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