Thai duo continue giant-killing streak

Paradorn Srichaphan jumps for joy after beating Karol Kucera of the Slovak Republic in Perth. Tamarine Tanasugarn also triumphed in the women's singles, beating Henrieta Nagyova.

Thailand's Hopman Cup team continued to confound pundits as they defeated the highly-regarded team from the Slovak Republic to put them in the driver's seat for a berth in the finals.

Paradorn Srichaphan and Tamarine Tanasugarn each won their singles against Karol Kucera and Henrieta Nagyova respectively, setting up a showdown with the Austrian team who lost 2-1 to Australia in the other group pairing on Thursday. The Slovak team forfeited the mixed doubles match due to injury.

Tamarine in yet another stunning reversal

Tamarine recovered from lower back spasms to knock off yet another higher ranked player in giving Thailand a 1-0 lead over the Slovak Republic in the Hopman Cup.

The 72nd-ranked Tamarine was leading 2-6, 6-2, 4-1 when Nagyova, ranked 24, who also required medical treatment in the second set for problems in her left leg, retired in order to receive further treatment and rest for the mixed doubles.

It was a gutsy performance from Tamarine, who had a physiotherapist treat her after trailing 5-2 in the opening set. As she slowly recovered, she continued to move Nagyova all over the court. The turning point came at 3-2 in the second set, where after trading 5 straight service breaks Tamarine beat off 5 break points in 7 deuces to hold serve. She then broke Nagyova yet again, after which Nagyova required treatment on her left leg.

From there on it was all downhill for Nagyova as Tamarine kept her cool and reeled off 7 of the next 8 games. It was an inspiring performance which was to provide the momentum for yet another stunning upset.

Paradorn blasts past Kucera

Following Tamarine's win, Paradorn, ranked 99th, took on the tournament's top-ranked male player in Kucera, who is ranked 17th in the world. Kucera managed to take the first set 6-4 despite an unusually high number of double-faults.

But then Paradorn, stepping his game up a notch, took the second set to a tiebreak, which he won decisively when Kucera's serve let him down yet again.

It was practically no contest in the third set, when Paradorn continued to blast aces past Kucera, and all Kucera could do was to help Paradorn with erratic serving - and when the smoke cleared, Paradorn emerged with the biggest win of his career, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 - and set the stage for Friday's all-important encounter with Austria.

Should Thailand win, they will reach the Hopman Cup finals in their very first attempt, and certainly be the toast of the tennis world. Meanwhile, Australia and Austria still have a chance at qualifying, but it will require both teams to post 3-0 wins in their encounters against Japan, who replaces the Slovak Republic, and Thailand, who is looking likely to put up a spirited fight given their superb form this week.