Paradorn Srichaphan

Nicknamed "Ball" in his native country...Began playing tennis at age six with his father, Chanachai, who quit his bank job to coach son...Mother, Ubon, is a school teacher...Finished No. 10 in world junior rankings in 1996... Triple gold medalist, winning singles, doubles (w/older brother Naratorn) and team categories at 1999 Southeast Asia Games in Brunei...Also has an older brother, Tanakorn...Considers groundstrokes as strength and hard courts as favorite surface...Hobbies include car racing and watching Thai kickboxing...Believes in touching the ground where he plays for good luck and says, "I pick up the grass if I have time before the match. I put it in my pocket."...Got the idea from the Pope...Tries to dine with Thai ambassador in countries where he plays...Says red is his "lucky color and it's like the winning color for Thai people. That's why I'm starting to wearing it."...He first started wearing a red shirt in Washington, where he made the final..."When I put the red shirt on, that means I'm going to finish the match, and I'm going to win the match," he added...Is Thai cultural ambassador and was issued a red diplomatic passport..."Thai of the Year" in 2002...Earned a spot on cover of Time Asia's magazine in April 2003 and chosen as one of its 29 Asian heroes for 2003...Has 33-13 Davis Cup record (31-10 in singles) in 24 ties since 1998...2002 ATP Most Improved Player and 2002-03 Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award...Carried his country's flag in opening ceremonies of 2004 Athens Olympics...In November 2005, shaved his head and dressed in a monk's robe before being paraded through streets sitting atop an elephant to begin weeklong service of monkhood outside of Bangkok and took Buddhist name "Mahaviro", which means "great and brave"...Travels with physio Yioyim Teerawat.

1999 -- Captured one Futures title and reached final at Yokohama Challenger (l. to H.-T. Lee) and first ATP SF in Singapore (d. No. 19 Norman, l. to Tillstrom)... Also a QF in Tashkent and Shanghai... Qualified into first Grand Slam at Wimbledon where he defeated Raoux and lost to Kafelnikov in four sets in 2nd RD...

2000 -- Reached 2nd RD at Australian Open for first time, defeating No. 14 seed Kucera in four sets in 1st RD before losing to Dosedel in next round...In May, advanced to first ATP QF in Orlando (l. to eventual champion Gonzalez)...Birmingham Challenger finalist (l. to Agenor)...Reached 2nd RD at Sydney Olympics (l. to Norman)...Finalist at Charleroi Challenger (l. to Siemerink)...

2001 -- Advanced to QF at Queen' Club (l. to Henman)...Reached QF in Tashkent (l. to Hrbaty)...In doubles, reached Waikoloa Challenger final (w/M. Bryan)...Went 3-1 in Davis Cup singles play...

2002 -- Became first Thai player to finish in Top 20 and win an ATP title...Became first Asian in that year-end group since India's Vijay Amritraj was No. 20 in 1980...Made biggest improvement in match victories from previous season, winning 39 more matches (from 10 to 49) and finished with most hard-court match victories (40) on tour...Also made second-biggest climb in Top 20 (behind Gonzalez), improving 110 positions on ATP Rankings...Had wins over six Top 10 players, including year-end Top 4 of Hewitt, Agassi, Safin and Ferrero...Moya was only other player to accomplish feat...Reached first ATP final in Chennai (l. to Canas)...Advanced to Grand Slam-best 3rd RD at Roland Garros (l. to Di Pasquale) and Wimbledon (d. Agassi in 2nd, l. to Krajicek)...Reached final in Washington (l. to Blake) and followed with first ATP title in Long Island (d. Chela)...Reached SF in Tashkent (d. Safin, l. to Kafelnikov)...Won title in Stockholm (d. Rios), reached SFs in Tokyo (d. Hewitt, l. to Carlsen) and AMS Paris (d. Ferrero, Canas, Roddick, l. to Hewitt) and QF at AMS Madrid (d. Kuerten, Henman, l. to Novak)...Compiled records of 40-17 on hard, 5-2 on carpet, 2-2 on grass, 2-4 on clay...

2003 -- Became first Asian-born player to rank in Top 10 during year, reaching a career- high No. 9 in May and spent 10 weeks in Top 10...Opened season with title in Chennai (d. Kucera)...Advanced to his second career AMS SF in Miami (l. to Moya)...Had Grand Slam-best 4th RD showing at Wimbledon (l. to Roddick)...Runner-up in Indianapolis (l. to Roddick)...Defended title in Long Island (d. Blake) without dropping a set...Reached 4th RD at US Open (l. to Hewitt)...Reached QF in his native Bangkok, SF in Tokyo and Lyon and 3rd RD at AMS Paris...Came within one match victory in Paris of finishing in Top 10...Compiled records of 38-17 on hard, 6-2 on carpet and 4-3 on grass...Earned a career-high $794,362...

2004 -- Runner-up in Chennai (l. to Moya) and two weeks later advanced to a career-best 4th RD at Australian Open (l. to Agassi)...Did not win back-to-back matches until March when he reached 4th RD in Miami (l. to Spadea)...Captured title in Nottingham (d. T. Johansson)...Had SF showings in Long Island (l. to Horna), Beijing (l. to Youzhny) and his hometown of Bangkok (l. to Federer)...

2005 -- Began year by reaching final in Chennai for fourth consecutive year, losing to Moya in a third-set tie-break... Had QF finishes in Rotterdam (d. Coria, l. to Ljubicic) and Nottingham (l. to Gasquet)... Advanced to QF in Los Angeles (l. to Agassi) and SF in Washington (l. to Roddick), losing to eventual champions in both... At US Open, reached 3rd RD, losing to Sanguinetti in a fifth set tie-break in a match that lasted four hours and 32 minutes... In final two months, reached SF in Bangkok (l. to Murray), 3rd RD in Tokyo (l. to Nieminen) and final in Stockholm (l. to Blake)... Compiled records of 26-18 on hard, 3-2 on carpet, 3-4 on grass and 2-7 on clay... Posted Top 10 wins over over No. 5 Coria in Rotterdam and No. 6 Davydenko at US Open...

2006 -- Asian No. 2 player (behind Lee) finished out of Top 50 for the first time in five years...Highlights included SF showings at AMS Indian Wells in March (d. No. 4 Nalbandian, Nieminen, l. to Federer) and Beijing (d. No. 5 Davydenko, l. to Baghdatis) and Bangkok (l. to Ljubicic) in September...Also a QF in Chennai, Sydney and Indianapolis...Compiled records of 24-19 on hard, 3-3 on grass, 3-2 on carpet and 0-8 on clay...Also played a career-high 45 tie-breaks (25-20), second-most behind Federer (37-14).

2007 -- The Thai native missed the last seven months due to a right wrist injury...Compiled a 1-5 match record in first three months before being sidelined rest of year...Won first match in Chennai (d. Bolelli) and then lost in next round to eventual finalist Koubek...Retired in opening round of Sydney, lost at Australian Open, AMS Indian Wells and retired (vs. Horna) at AMS Miami...Underwent right wrist surgery on Oct. 11 in Los Angeles.