Career
Paradorn started his professional ATP career in 1998. He remained in the lower ranks of the professional circuit for several years. However his ranking continued to improve. After being a surprise finalist in the 2000 Hopman Cup, 2002 was a breakthrough year for him as he managed to get into the top 30 after defeating Andre Agassi in Wimbledon. In 2003 he won his first ATP-level singles title, the Hamlet Cup. He reached the fourth round in Wimbledon where he was beaten by Andy Roddick, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, having become the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam, He also reached the fourth round in the US Open losing to Lleyton Hewitt. By the end of the year, he was ranked World No. 11 in the ATP rankings. He is however not in favor of playing doubles having won no title in this category on either Challenger or ATP level.
Paradorn is extremely popular in Asia, especially in Thailand. He was Thailand's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece but lost in the first round of singles to Joachim Johansson. His best Olympics performance was second round in Sydney, beating Attila Sávolt before being beaten by third-seeded Magnus Norman. Paradorn plays with big serves and powerful forehands. He uses a single-handed backhand, and is known for being a weak player on clay courts due to his lack of patience when playing points.
At the 2006 Indian Wells masters tournament, Paradorn reached the semifinals and lost against World No. 1 Roger Federer in two sets (6–2, 6–3). En route to the semifinal he beat World No. 20 Robby Ginepri in the second round, World No. 16 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in the third round, World No. 4 David Nalbandian in the fourth round, and World No. 25 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the quarterfinals.
In the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, Paradorn was seeded 29th but was upset in the first round by Agustín Calleri in five sets. He did not perform well in all the events he participated in early 2007 due to wrist injury and he missed basically the whole 2007 season. As a result his ranking fell to below #900. After the end of the ATP Masters Series event in Miami that ended in early April 2007, Paradorn fell entirely out of the ATP rankings. He began practicing as of March 2008, however it took him until the 2009 Thailand Open to return to the ATP World Tour, playing doubles. He retired in June 2010, following a motorcycle crash that left him with two broken hands and a wrist.
Paradorn is sponsored by adidas, Yonex, and Thai Airways International.
Read more about this topic: Paradorn Srichaphan
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