Alas, Poor Paradorn

Paradorn Srichaphan's been bounced out of a tournament early again. Well, at least it wasn't a first-round loss, which occurred the last few times I'd seen him play this year.

Paradorn is Asia's top-ranked male player, but he peaked at number nine in the entry rankings. After that, it's been a steady decline downwards; he's now ranked 43 in the world. He's a pretty flashy player who likes to go for his shots, but these days he's missing them more than he's sticking them. The players he's going up against are the same ones from last year, but as the other guys have said, everyone's improved because Federer's dominance is forcing them to improve. Alas, Srichaphan might not have gotten that particular memo; he hasn't been able to up his performance so far. He's getting left behind.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 4:40 PM