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Published on January 13, 2008

T amarine Tanasugarn kept the Thai flag flying after making it to the main draw of the Australian Open singles competition. The gritty Tamarine survived a tough final qualifier against China's Shuai Zhang yesterday.

The veteran was taken the distance by her 18-year-old opponent before triumphing

3-6 6-3 6-3 in 89 minutes to compensate for Danai Udomchoke's 7-6 (7/1) 5-7 2-6 loss to American Rajeev Ram.

A total of 21 unforced errors, compared to six winners, saw the Thai lose the first set to Shuai, who fired 13 winners. And with the sixth-seeded Thai dropping her serve at the beginning of the second set, Shuai looked to hold the edge. But with her back to the wall, Tamarine broke twice to lead

5-3 and saved two break points to take the match into a third set.

The decider saw the Thai pounding a series of winners to establish a 5-2 lead. She failed to serve for the match but broke the teenager in the ninth game to wrap up the tie. She had 12 winners compared to three by the Chinese.

"She played so well in the first set and attacked my serves. So I tried to attack her first in the second and third sets and improved my serves. I hit a lot of winners,'' said Tamarine, ranked No 115 in the world.

However, an uphill task awaits the Thai in the main draw as she will play world No 20 Sybille Bammer of Austria in the first round.

The Austrian lefthander, winner of the Pattaya Open last year, beat the Thai in their last two meetings, including a 6-4 6-4 victory in the first round of the 2007 US Open.

"It's a tough draw. But if I can play like today, it's going to be a good match. I will need a good rest before the Monday game,'' Tamarine said.

Danai Udomchoke squandered a 7-6 (7/1) 4-1 lead as Ram staged a comeback.

The American levelled at five-all and managed a crucial break to surge ahead to 6-5 before serving out to force the decisive set.  He never looked back. It was a disappointing exit for the Thai, who reached the third round in Melbourne last year, surprising ex-world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain for his best result in a Grand Slam.

The Nation