"Wow, Wow, Wow!"

Tamarine has the wow factor
Monday, 30 June 2008
Written by Paul Kiernan

Picture the scene: It is your twelfth visit to SW19, and you’ve reached the fourth round seven times, but still haven’t joined the coveted last eight club. And then you walk onto Court 18, beat No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic in straight sets, and set up a quarter-final match with the defending champion, Venus Williams.

Well, that is exactly what Tamarine Tanasugarn did and when the 31-year-old was asked how she felt, only three words sprung to mind: “Wow, wow, wow”.

With Game, set, match, Miss Tanasugarn echoing around Court 18, the overjoyed underdog sank to her knees, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks. But it could have been a very different story as the world number 60 almost retired a few years ago.

“I was struggling… I dropped my rank to maybe below 140, 130 and I had injuries. It’s not easy to come back right away. I had a tough time, I was thinking to stop,” she recalled during her post-match press conference. But a successful Wimbledon back in 2006 kept her motivated: “I had to play qualifying so I just started playing for fun. Suddenly I just qualified and I was back in the third round.”

Tanasugarn couldn’t hide her delight at making the quarters, and not even the mention of a certain defending champion in the next round could wipe the broad smile of her face.

“I've played her so many times and she kicked my butt. I’m just happy to be in the quarter-finals. No pressure at all to me.”

To be precise, the contented Thai has met Venus six times and lost every time. But, as the saying goes, there is nothing more dangerous than someone who has nothing to lose. “I just go out there to have fun and do my best. I’m happy the way I am right now. If I win against her, then wow, wow, wow; great feelings. But I just go out there and do my best and play great tennis.”

As carefree as all this sounded, the modest woman from Thailand failed to mention the extraordinary few weeks she has enjoyed. Today was, in fact, Tanasugarn’s eleventh straight win on grass, after she doubled the singles Tour titles in her trophy cabinet by winning the Ordina Open in Holland just before the Championships began.

So, if the constancy and the punchy forehands continue to fly, then Venus could be brought back down to earth with a bang.