Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen was put to the test today at the PTT Thailand Open against Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem. It took the Finn almost two hours to win the match 6-1 4-6 7-5. Thiem broke Nieminen’s serve three times in this opening round match. Nieminen did have seven break points and managed to win five of those. “It was difficult because I was lying in bed ill most of the past three days. I’m feeling better and better all the time and I felt in may stages I was playing well. This young guy is very talented,” Jarkko said.
Finland’s number one player was the runner up in Bangkok last year. His next opponent will be number seven seed Dutchman Robin Haase, who overcame Thai wildcard Kittipong Wachiramanowong in his first round on Monday.
American Donald Young advanced into the second round today after his opponent Igor Andreev had to pull out. Young won the first set in a tiebreaker and they had played three games in the second set when Andreev pulled the pin for an unknown reason. The American takes on the number four seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain in the second round.
Germany’s Michael Berrer took out Swiss qualifier Maro Chiudinelli 7-6 6-4 to move into the next round. Berrer will now take on Brit Andy Murray, who is top seed in Bangkok.
Qualifier Simon Bolelli of Italy had a great win over Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in two tiebreak sets. 10 aces helped Bolelli to earn a spot in the second round.
Three doubles teams are through to the second round after today’s play. German team Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Waske beat Ashley Fisher of Australia and Frank Moser of Germany 6-1 7-6.
Santiago Giraldo of Colombia and Tobias Kamke of Germany had a tense battle with Thai wildcard team Weerapat and Sonchat Ratiwantana. The European/South American team won 7-5 7-6 (4). They will now play the number three seeds Simon Bolelli and Fabio Fognini of Italy in the second round.
SCHEDULE – WEDNESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER, 2011
CENTRE COURT start 12:00 noon
M Bachinger (GER) vs [WC] D Udomchoke (THA)
[8] P Andujar (ESP) vs T Kamke (GER)
Not Before 7:00 PM
[3] G Simon (FRA) vs Y Lu (TPE)
[7] R Haase (NED) vs J Nieminen (FIN)
COURT 1 start 12:00 noon
K Beck (SVK) vs [Q] G Soeda (JPN)
[1] O Marach (AUT) / A Qureshi (PAK) vs J Delgado (GBR) / J Marray (GBR)
[WC] D Udomchoke (THA) / K Wachiramanowong (THA) vs J Murray (GBR) / A Sa (BRA) – Possible Court Change
[3] S Bolelli (ITA) / F Fognini (ITA) vs S Giraldo (COL) / T Kamke (GER)
J Cerretani (USA) / P Marx (GER) vs [4] P Hanley (AUS) / D Norman (BEL)