- Paradorn Srichaphan
Infobox Tennis player
playername = Paradorn Srichaphan
nickname = Ball
country = THA
residence =Bangkok , Thailand
datebirth =June 14 ,1979 (age 29)
placebirth =Khon Kaen , Thailand
height = 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
weight = 81 kg (180 lb)
turnedpro =1997
retired =
plays = Right-handed;
careerprizemoney = $3,458,330
singlesrecord = 239–193
singlestitles = 5
highestsinglesranking = 9 (May 12 ,2003 )
AustralianOpenresult = 4th (2004)
FrenchOpenresult = 3rd (2002)
Wimbledonresult = 4th (2003)
USOpenresult = 4th (2003)
doublesrecord = 25–60
doublestitles = 0
highestdoublesranking = 79 (September 8 ,2003 )
updated = October 6, 2007Paradorn Srichaphan ( _th. ภราดร ศรีชาพันธุ์; born
June 14 ,1979 ) is aprofessional tennis player fromThailand . He is the highest ranked player fromThailand in history, reaching a career high World No. 9, the highest ranking that has been achieved by a player born in Thailand. His nickname is "Ball".Career
Paradorn started his professional ATP career in
1998 . He remained in the lower ranks of the professional circuit for several years. However his ranking continued to improve. After being a surprise finalist in the2000 Hopman Cup ,2002 was a breakthrough year for him as he managed to get into the top 30 after defeatingAndre Agassi in Wimbledon. In2003 he won his first ATP-level singles title, the Hamlet Cup. By the end of the year, he was ranked World No. 11 in the ATP rankings. He is however not in favor of playing doubles having won no title in this category on either Challenger or ATP level.Paradorn is extremely popular in Asia, especially in Thailand. Paradorn was Thailand's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the
2004 Summer Olympic Games held inAthens ,Greece and participated in the Games' tennis event. Unfortunately he lost in the first round of the tournament toJoachim Johansson . His best Olympics performance was 2nd round in Sydney, beatingAttila Savolt before being beaten by 3rd seedMagnus Norman . Paradorn plays with big serves and powerfulforehand s. He uses a one-handedbackhand , and is known for being a weak player on clay courts due to his lack of patience when playing points.At the 2006 Indian Wells masters tournament, Srichaphan reached the semi-finals and lost against World No. 1
Roger Federer in two sets (2–6, 3–6). En route to the semi-final he beat #20Robby Ginepri in the second round, #16Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in the 3rd round, #4David Nalbandian in the 4th round and #25Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the quarter-final.In the
2006 Wimbledon Championships , Srichaphan received the 29th seed in the tournament but was upset in the first round byAgustin Calleri in five sets. Paradorn did not perform well in all the events he participated in early 2007 due to wrist injury and he missed basically the whole 2007 season. As a result his ranking fell to below 900th. After the end of the ATP Masters Series event in Miami that ended in early April 2008, Srichaphan fell entirely out of the ATP rankings. Srichaphan began practicing as of March 2008 for a return to the ATP tour. He has not yet announced which tournament he plans to enter as his return.Paradorn is sponsored by
Adidas (shoes & clothing),Yonex (racquets) andThai Airways International .Personal life
Paradorn is noted for his politeness on the court. At each match, he performs the wai, the traditional Thai greeting, clasping his hands together and bowing to the four corners of the stadium. The gesture is seen as thanking the fans and it has become his trademark. His success in tennis led to a spike in popularity of the game in Thailand. "The Nation" newspaper named him "Thai of the Year" in 2002. And in 2003, Paradorn was featured on the cover of "Time" and featured as one of the year's "Asian heroes." [Walsh, Bryan. April 28, 2003. [http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/heroes/paradorn_srichaphan.html A rising Thai tennis star wins—and smiles—big] , "Time".]
In January 2005 Thai local media published Paradorn"s tsunami contribution at 10,000 THB ($250) to Thai Red Cross. The news caused wide-spread discussion about the inappropriate donation value compared to his lifestyle and income. [Nation Multimedia Group. January 13, 2005 [http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2005/01/13/sport/index.php?news=sport_16056984.html Srichaphans cough up] ]
In November 2005, Paradorn spent a week (
November 26 toDecember 3 ) as aBuddhist monk in atemple outside Bangkok. He adopted the Buddhist name "Mahaviro", meaning "great and brave", wore saffron robes and shaved his head. His then girlfriend,Odette Henriette Jacqmin was present for the ceremony. [cite web
url=http://www.protennisfan.com/paradorn_srichaphan/index.html
title=Paradorn to get ordained Saturday
publisher=Pro Tennis Fan]On
April 20 ,2007 , an announcement was made of the upcoming engagement between Paradorn Srichaphan andNatalie Glebova (Miss Universe 2005). [Gulf Times Newspaper. 22 April, 2007 [http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp? ] ]
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