Srichaphan wards off Belgian threat

The third seed finally broke back in the eighth game before taking the tiebreak 7-3 with a ferocious backhand pass.

Broken by Norman in the eighth game of the final set, Paradorn produced a string of superb shots to hit back in the next game.

“I was down 5-3 and he was serving for the match and 30-15. It was almost done,” said the 24-year-old Thai, chasing a third ATP Tour title of the year. Either I break back or I’m finished, so I played my best game and just tried to get back into the match and force another tiebreak.”

A fist-pumping Paradorn quickly seized control after that and went on to take the third-set tiebreak 7-2, wrapping up victory in two hours and 11 minutes.

Wimbledon runner-up Philippoussis, who ended a two-year title drought with victory in Shanghai at the weekend, took just over an hour to dispatch Browne on centre court.

“It was important for me to win that final on Sunday,” said the 26-year-old Philippoussis.

“I felt like I wanted to prove something to myself…not to be satisfied just to get to the final instead of knuckling down. I felt fearless, like I did when I was 18 or 19.”

Earlier, second seed Sebastien Grosjean won his first match since August with a businesslike 6-3 7-6 success over towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

The Frenchman, counter-punching effectively against his 2.08-metre opponent, took the first set comfortably and prevailed 10-8 in a high-quality second-set tiebreak.

World No. 10 Grosjean, who had not won a match since a second-round victory at the Tennis Masters Series in Montreal, plays Dutchman Dennis van Scheppingen in the third round.

Fourth-seeded Czech Jiri Novak beat German Bjorn Phau 7-6, 6-2 while ninth seed Kenneth Carlsen also advanced, the Dane overpowering Goichi Motomura 6-2, 7-6.

However, just-engaged Takao Suzuki gained a measure of revenge for Japan, ousting 14th-seeded South African Wesley Moodie 6-1, 7-6 behind a sharp serve-and-volley game. Suzuki plays Paradorn next. (Reuters)