Srichaphan shocks Hewitt
George Nishiyama
Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan overwhelmed world number one Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 6-3 on Friday, knocking the Australian out of the $800,000 Japan Open in the quarter-finals.
Swedish qualifier Magnus Norman also advanced to the last four, winning his sixth match in seven days by downing compatriot Magnus Larsson 7-6(7-5), 7-5.
Eighth seed Paradorn pummelled the Wimbledon champion with aces and a stream of baseline winners as Hewitt lacked his usual precision and committed numerous unforced errors.
"He played well, but I didn't play my best tennis... I didn't feel fresh from the start," Hewitt said. "It was his powerful play that has caused some upsets for big guys this year."
The 23-year-old Thai made headlines at this year's Wimbledon by beating Andre Agassi in the second round.
Paradorn, ranked 31 in the world, said all he did was concentrate on his own game.
"I have nothing to lose; he is number one in the world. I just kept on telling myself that win or lose, I'm just going to play my game and play well.
"I learned a lot from the last two times (I played him). Like how to play when the situation is close, like when I have a break point," Paradorn said.
In their Feburary meeting in San Jose, Paradorn held four match-points before losing to the Australian.
Hewitt's surprise exit leaves Paradorn as the sole seeded player in the draw.
"If I keep on playing the way I did today, I have a good chance to reach the final or win the tournament," he said.
In the women's tournament, top seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan was beaten by Croatia's Silvija Talaja 3-6, 7-6(7-5), 6-3 while second seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand advanced to the semi-final, beating Australia's Alicia Molik 6-4, 1-6 6-1.
SWEDE COMEBACK
Norman, a former world number two, outgunned Larsson with 11 aces in a repeat of his second round upset over second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain when he stacked up 13 aces.
"I've been playing well this week, especially yesterday. I am playing with confidence and my serve has been good," said the 26-year-old.
Norman, a finalist at Roland Garros in 2000, is now ranked 210 in the world after a hip injury last year. He has showed glimpses of his old form this week at the $800,000 tournament, winning all his six matches in straight sets.
"It's been a long time, tougher than I had expected it to be, to come back from injury, my first big injury," Norman said.
"But now, I've put that all behind me and looking forward to playing some good tennis."
