Paradorn Srichaphan (ภราดร ศรีชาพันธุ์; ; ; born 14 June 1979) is a Thai former professional tennis player.
Srichaphan was the first player from Asia to be ranked in the world's top 10 of men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), reaching a career high ranking of world No. 9. His nickname is "Ball".
He graduated as a Bachelor of Social Science from Ramkhamhaeng University.
1993
Srichaphan played his first junior match in March 1993 at the age of 13 at a grade 2 tournament in Thailand.
He won his first junior title in November 1993 and made his junior grand slam debut at the 1994 Wimbledon Championships where he lost in the first round to 2nd seed Ben Ellwood.
1996
1996 would prove to be a breakout year for Srichaphan.
Along with winning four titles within the year, he made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
His ranking soared to a career-high of No. 10 in the world at the end of the year.
Australian Open: QF (1996)
French Open: 2R (1996)
Wimbledon: QF (1996)
US Open: QF (1996)
1997
Srichaphan ended his junior career after a first round loss at the 1997 Wimbledon Championships.
Throughout his junior career, he posted a win-loss record of 94–48.
Junior Grand Slam results – Singles:
Srichaphan turned pro in 1997 at the age of 18 after making his ATP debut at the 1997 Heineken Open in Singapore where he lost to former world No. 1 Jim Courier in three sets.
Throughout 1997 and 1998, he mostly played ITF and ATP Challenger events winning one ITF event.
Srichaphan began the year with an early loss in qualifying at the Australian Open and a second ITF title.
In April, Srichaphan recorded his first ATP win at the Salem Open defeating Petr Luxa in straight sets.
He lost in the second round to 5th seed Nicolas Kiefer in straight sets.
The next week at the Japan Open, he recorded another win against Vincenzo Santopadre in straight sets but once again lost in the second to 5th seed Nicolas Kiefer who would become the eventual champion.
After failing to qualify for the French Open, Srichaphan qualified for Wimbledon to make his grand slam debut.
There, he defeated Guillaume Raoux in straight sets to record his first grand slam win.
He lost in the second round to world No. 3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
September and October showed success for Srichaphan.
In September, he made his first ATP quarterfinal at the President's Cup.
In October, he made another quarterfinal at the Heineken Open Shanghai.
The next week, he made his first semifinal at the Heineken Open Singapore defeating 3rd seed Magnus Norman en route.
Srichaphan broke into the top 100 in December and finished the year ranked No. 99.
A remarkable jump from his ranking of 406 at the start of the year.
2000
By mid 2000, Srichaphan had established himself as a figure on the ATP Tour who made consistent appearances in ATP events.
He had played in every single grand slam in the year 2000 but was only able to win one match at the Australian Open against 14th seed and former semifinalist Karol Kučera in straight sets.
2001
He also dropped back out of the top 100 in 2001.
Srichaphan began the year by making his first ATP final at the Chennai Open defeating 2nd seed Thomas Johansson and 4th seed Andrei Pavel en route.
He lost to top seed Guillermo Cañas in straight sets.
Because of his result, his ranking improved 36 spots from No. 120 to No. 86 putting him back into the top 100.
One week later at the Adidas International he recorded his first win over a top 10 player defeating top seed and world No. 6 Sébastien Grosjean in the first round in straight sets.
2002
At the 2002 French Open, Srichaphan made the third round defeating 19th seed Thomas Enqvist along the way.
He lost in the third round to wildcard and former Olympic bronze medalist Arnaud Di Pasquale in straight sets.
2010
One month later at Wimbledon, he upset 3rd seed, world No. 4, former world No. 1 and former champion Andre Agassi in the second round in straight sets to claim his second win over a top 10 player.
