THA F1 - Kittiphong Wachiramanowong
Last week in Nonthaburi, the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand was host to the first of three consecutive tournaments on the ITF Men’s Circuit. The first of these tournaments marked a return to the nation for Futures tournaments in almost a year and was also played alongside a $10,000 tournament on the ITF Women’s Circuit, the first time ever that men’s and women’s tournaments have been held at the same venue in the same week on the ITF Pro Circuit in Thailand.
The No. 1 seed, Gouichi Motomura, looked to be on course for the title, winning in each of the first two rounds comfortably in straight sets before being forced to retire during his quarterfinal match with Thailand’s No. 5 seed Kittiphong Wachiramanowong. Leading 62 20 at the time of the retirement, Wachiramanowong, yet to drop a set, was then made to work hard for a place in the final, his 67(7) 63 64 semi final win over Peerakit Siributwong set up a final with Canada’s Milos Raonic, the No. 7 seed.
Just as in their respective semifinal matches, both these teenage players were then involved in another three set match as they battled it out for the title. At the conclusion of this closely contested final, it was the 5th seeded Wachiramanowong who was collecting the winners trophy following a 36 64 63 triumph.
The doubles final also saw Raonic in action. With partner Nikolaus Moser from Austria and named as the No. 2 seeds the title was won with a 06 76(2) [10-3] win over the tournaments Japanese No. 1 seeded pairing of Satoshi Iwabuchi & Gouichi Motomura.