Sawangkaew flies Thailand – and World Tennis Tour – flag at Wimbledon
The stories continue to flow at Wimbledon and here is another. Mananchaya Sawangkaew has become the first player from Tahiland since Tamarine Tanasugarn in 2008 to reach the third round.
The 23-year-old is contesting her second Grand Slam main draw after competing at the Australian Open earlier this year. Her first-round win over Roland Garros women’s singles finalist Maja Chwalinska was her first victory in a Grand Slam main draw.
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Sawangkaew, who represented Thailand at the 2016 World Junior Tennis Finals – the premier international team competition for players aged 14 and under – then built upon that victory by dispatching Alycia Parks of the United States in the second round.
It is a remarkable performance by Sawangkaew and very much in keeping with her season so far having claimed the three biggest titles of her career so far – two on the World Tennis Tour at W75 Nonthaburi and W100 Gifu.
It goes to show the merits of the World Tennis Tour in terms of preparing players for and propelling players to the upper reaches of tennis, including Grand Slams. All eyes will be on Mananchaya as she faces Karolina Muchova in round three.