Coming into the match after four first round exits, Paradorn managed his first win in almost two months with a straight sets 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 victory over the doubles specialist in a match delayed by rain.

After reaching the quarter-finals in Chennai and Sydney - his best results of the season - Paradorn then crashed out in four consecutive first rounds in Melbourne, Marseilles, Rotterdam and Las Vegas. His ranking plummeted to No 61 this week.

In his two previous matches against the South African Paradorn had not dropped a set, defeating his opponent 6-3 6-4 in London two years ago and 6-3 7-6 in Washington last year.

The two players traded early breaks at the beginning of the match, but when it came to groundstrokes the Thai had the edge on his rival. He established a big lead at 6-2 in the tie-break and delivered one of his eight aces of the day to close out the set.

An early break in the first game of the second set gave Paradorn the upper hand. He held on to his advantage throughout the rest of the match, which took one hour and 16 minutes.

A much more tougher task now awaits Paradorn in the second round where he is due to meet American hip hop fan Robby Genepri. The 17th-seed, who had a first round bye, has a perfect 3-0 record over Paradorn but has won only one of six matches this year.

Meanwhile, American 12th seed James Blake kept his cool as unheralded Sam Querry applied some heat on Saturday, emerging with a 1-6 6-1 6-3 second round victory.

But Blake said it was his 18-year-old opponent rather than the cold, blustery conditions that thwarted him in the opening set.

"I think Sam played unbelievable that first set," said Blake, who spent some time practising with the 443rd-ranked Querry in December. "He was serving big. I don't think he missed many forehands."

Blake had turned things around and taken a 5-0 lead in the second set when rain stopped play, and when they resumed he had little trouble finishing off the affair.

"I'm happy I did a good job of not getting down on myself, not panicking," said Blake, who entered the tournament at a career high 14 in the world rankings. His season has included two titles, at Sydney in January and in Las Vegas last week.

He also had first round exits at San Jose and Memphis in February.

"I don't feel like I'm struggling with consistency," Blake insisted. "I think this level is very difficult. I'm actually pretty proud of how I've maintained my mental approach to each match."

Mental strength was proving valuable as winter storms swept across the California desert, bringing rain delays to a tournament where hot, dry conditions are the norm most years.

Fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva was able to get through her second-round match against Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus without interruption, posting a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory.

They were followed by Germany's Rainer Schuettler and Serbian Boris Pashanski, who were trying to complete a first round match that rain brought to a halt around midnight on Friday.

They had yet to complete the first set when the rain struck again.

Other matches completed included women's sixth seed Flavia Penetta's 6-1 6-2 victory over Croatian Ivan Lisjak.

Meanwhile in Jakarta, 14-year-old Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Chiang Mai won her first Junior ITF Group II event yesterday when she upset American fifth seed Lena Litvak in straight sets in the final of the Salon Pas International Junior Championships.

She becomes the youngest Thai to win a Group II title and is the first Thai to win at this level since Nudnida Luangnam in 2004 in Bangkok. It was Noppawan's second ITF trophy after her first win in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, in January.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

Agencies, The Nation