Stars make BKK bow
Top seeds primed for Thailand Open campaigns.
The Thailand Open’s top two seeds, Tomas Berdych and Richard Gasquet, arrived in Bangkok yesterday morning.
Berdych last week helped the Czech Republic beat Argentina on his home soil to reach their second consecutive Davis Cup final, which will be played in November.
‘‘I am very happy to be back in Bangkok again,’’Berdych said.
‘‘I like Thai food very much, especially the tom yum kung [spicy prawn soup]. This time, I will make sure I taste other Thai food as well.’’
Defending champion Richard Gasquet hopes to repeat his Bangkok victory and boost his chances of qualifying for the year-end championships in London. He is currently ranked No.9 behind Stanislas Warinka in the Race to London.
Last year, Gasquet defeated Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-1 in the final to become the ninth player to win the tournament.
‘‘I am very happy to come here to defend my title again,’’ Gasquet said. ‘‘If I have time, I would like to go sightseeing around Bangkok. This is because last year, when I came here, I had a good impression of the Thai people and the city.’’
Third seed Milos Raonic, who reached the quarter-finals last year, will arrive today, hoping to add to his solitary singles win this season in San Jose. The Canadian changed coaches in the spring, taking on Croatia’s former top-five player Ivan Ljubicic, who has urged his new charge to improve his all-round game, which is often overly reliant on his ferocious serve.
Since making the change, Raonic has made the final of the Montreal Masters, reached the second week of the US Open and this month played a major role in unfancied Canada’s narrow Davis Cup semi-final loss to Serbia.
‘‘I think I’ve improved a lot of things, I’m playing quite a different way,’’ said the 22-year-old.
In today’s play, there will be four qualifying matches before the main draw action begins, although the top four seeds have byes into the second round.