A calmer and wiser Bunyawi Thamchaiwat won her fourth ITF trophy with a 6-1 6-1 victory over veteran Nudnida Luangnam in the final of the US$15,000 Cal-Comp and XYZ Printing ITF Pro Circuit week 1 at the True Arena in Hua Hin on SaturdayThe top seed and world No 483 has been showing a steady improvement since the opening round, where she survived a tough three-set battle against Japan’s Sakura Hondo and has won her last four matches in straight sets, surrendering just 10 games along the wayThe 19-year-old from Nakhon Ratchasima has won at least one singles title every year since 2015Saturday’s win also boosted her confidence after a dismal 2017 season where she admits she lost her momentum due to pressure and fear“I expected too much of myself and ended up in fear I didn’t dare to strike the ball like I used to,” said Bunyawi, who first displayed her potential with a maiden ITF win in Bangkok four years ago followed by impressive results in the Fed Cup in 2016She had only moderate results in 2016 and 2017, despite being touted as one of the country’s future starsShe then sought help from a psychologist, Saisueb Boonyaweerabutr, at the end of 2017 and learned how to deal with the mental aspect of her game. Bunyawi Thamchaiwat“I’ve learned how to control my mind and stick to myself I have become more mentally solid and now have the guts to go for my shots again,” added the gifted girl, whose improvement started with victories in Salopur, India, in December and another final in Egypt, in FebruaryBunyawi will again go into the second week of the Hua Hin ITF as top seed, with fellow Thai Nudnida and Patcharin Cheapchandej as the second and third seedsWith the field being relatively weak this week, she is confident the singles title will be claimed by a home player“It’s either me, Nudnida or Patcharin I’d love to win again but don’t want to put myself under pressure ”Bunyawi has also set a target of breaking into the world’s top 400 this year and hopes to make the cut for the Asian Games national team in Jakarta in August

Source: The Nation Bangkok May 05, 2018 13:07 UTC