Tennis in Thailand: A View from the Stands

By Helen Sneha

As I was walking down the stairs of the Phloen Chit train station two nights ago, I spotted, in the shadows, a lone lady holding an oversized tennis racquet. I ran up to her and asked, “Do you play? You play?” while trying to mimic a service motion. She said that she didn’t play, but she worked for a company that made tennis racquets. If she was used to tennis-mad tourists interrogating her on the sidewalk at night, she didn’t show it. 

Some tennis-mad tourists (okay, fine, I have to admit I’m one of the many) might have fretted that having great adventures in Bangkok would have to come at the expense of that most hallowed of tournaments, Wimbledon. Even before it had started, Wimbledon 2012 was promising to be particularly remarkable, especially with Olympic tennis due to be played there at the end of July. It was to my great delight – you can ask my roommates, they saw a legitimate outpouring of it – in which I discovered that the hotel provided StarSports as one of its channels.

I was then reminded of the numerous advertisements that run during the course of the Australian Open, the first major of the year, stating that the live broadcast on StarSports is presented by Thai Airways. I’ve never flown with Thai Airways, but I know that for once I’m glad for a big corporation. This way I could spend my days and nights in Bangkok and the wee hours of the morning on the lawns of the All England Lawn Tennis Club – in spirit, of course. 

I would go so far as to say that on the whole Asian continent, Thai tennis is only behind that of those two regional heavyweights, India (which has produced the Amritraj brothers, countless outstanding doubles teams, and Sania Mirza) and China (who boasts Li Na, the first female Asian grand slam champion). Thailand is certainly the most successfully country in South East Asia in terms of producing tennis players, and arguably even in terms of hosting tournaments. While Laos can lay some claim to Anne Keothavong, who will represent Great Britain in the Olympics this summer, and her brother, James a top-tier umpire who regularly makes the trip down to South East Asia over the yearly indoor swing to umpire in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, Thailand has produced top-tier players such as Paradorn Srichaphan and Tamarine Tanasugarn over the years. 

Srichaphan, to the best of my memory, attained the highest ranking ever achieved by an Asian man in the Association of Tennis Players (ATP), a record which he still holds today. He appears periodically on StarSports’ tennis program ‘Ace’, offering views on upcoming tennis matches and sometimes even playing little quiz games with the hostess. Broad-shouldered, tanned, grinning, and good-natured, he still cuts an impressive figure in his post-retirement. 

Tamarine Tanasugarn, sadly, made an early exit at this year’s Wimbledon a few days ago, but has a powerful forehand and is usually a tricky opponent on the grass. She, along with Mirza, Li Na, and Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm has done much the image of Asian women’s tennis over the past few years. 

Thailand also hosts an ATP tournament right here in Bangkok. It has been successful over the years in pulling in big names like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray. In a region where tennis tournaments struggle to find funding, the Bangkok Open has done remarkably well for itself, pulling visitors from all over its neighboring countries and offering the players full stadiums and healthy sums of prize money. 

As I write this from my hotel room, I’m half-watching last year’s defending champion, Andy Murray, play in front of his home crowd at Wimbledon. I must say, I really enjoy the Thai commentary. 

Helen Sneha, 20, is a second-year Bachelor of Arts student, double-majoring in Writing and International Studies. She is hopelessly interested in tennis, funky rings, dinosaurs, and the human hand.