Thai star Paradorn Srichaphan was determined to win his match last night at the Thailand Open and didn’t disappoint.

Wearing his favourite red shirt with the words "Love King" on the back, Paradorn overpowered Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-1 6-4, avenging three straight losses to the Spaniard.

"I played very prudently like I planned and had good control throughout the match. I made very few mistakes and should keep my first serve percentage as high as 60-70 per cent. I'm happy to finally beat him,'' said Paradorn, who always plays well at home in Thailand.

Earlier, red-hot Thai No 2 Danai was briefly tested by Swiss qualifier George Bastl before advancing with a convincing 6-3 6-0 victory for his first second round berth at the Thailand Open in four attempts. He displayed the formidable form that he produced to upend world No 14 Tommy Haas in the Davis Cup last week in Dusseldorf.

"I was under a bit of pressure because I was afraid I would disappoint the fans," he said. "At the same time I am quite confident after I beat Haas.

"If I can maintain at this level, I can catch up with the top 20 players,'' said the Thai No 2, who is ranking No 113 in the world by the ATP.

He will next have a rematch with seventh-seeded Robby Genepri, who eliminated him from the opening round last year.

"We play a similar game - that is stay at the baseline and try to destroy the momentum of one another," said Danai. "If he is in top form, he will be the favourite.

"But I will try not to feel the pressure and play like I did when I beat Haas,'' added Danai, who is in the doubles quarter-finals with his German partner Rainer Schuettler.

Paradorn, seeded eighth, went on court wearing a yellow polo shirt he bought on his way to the stadium, but changed into a red shirt before play started.

"I've seen everybody wearing yellow shirts, so I wanted to have one. I also have the red shirt with the words "Love King" on it to show my respect for His Majesty the King,'' said Paradorn, who will play wild card entrant Mikhail Ledovskikh of Switzerland today.

"I've never seen him before but he should have seen my game before. I have been playing well since the US Open because I have worked hard on my fitness,'' added Paradorn, who is the new Brand Ambassador for the Boonrawd Brewery. The company will donate Bt250 to an Aids foundation for each ace he serves.

After losing Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, the tournament also bid an early farewell to last year's runner-up Andy Murray, who was given a lesson by Tim Henman in a one-sided match that ended 6-4 6-2.

Murray, who looked below par after arriving on Monday from the Davis Cup tie against Ukraine last weekend, lost his temper during the final stages of the second set, yelling at people in the stands for using cameras with flashes.

But he calmed down and later learned some muay Thai tricks from 1996 Olympic Games boxing medallist Somluck Khamsing.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation