A year ago Paradorn Srichaphan was languishing at 68th in the world rankings, little known even in his native Thailand where tennis was a minor sport played by an elite few.

But a second-round Wimbledon meeting with a certain Andre Agassi last June not only ended his anonymity but also propelled him up the rankings.

The promise Paradorn showed in his stunning dismantling of Agassi's game on a warm summer's day was finally realised on Monday when he become the first Asian man to enter the world top 10 since rankings were introduced in August 1973.

"It has always been my dream to reach the top 10. It is extra special for me as I am the first Asian to ever achieve this," Paradorn told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

"If I look back over the recent years when this has been my goal, after a lot of hard work the results have come and I have begun to win a lot of matches."

For Asia, it has been a long wait.

Before Paradorn came on the scene, India had been at the forefront of Asian tennis with Ramanathan Krishnan reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals twice in the 1960s before the advent of rankings.

Krishnan's son Ramesh also broke into the top 30 in the 1980s while Vijay Amritraj achieved a career-high 16th in the world 23 years ago.

More recently, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have been the toast of the continent after their success on the doubles circuit, which includes three Grand Slam wins together.

But none of the Indian players have come anywhere near to breaking into the elite top 10 singles club.

With tennis considered one of the five most popular sports in the region, it was perhaps surprising that a breakthrough at the top had not been achieved earlier by the men -- especially since Japan's Kimiko Date had cracked the women's top 10 in January 1994.

But Paradorn finally rectified that situation this week.

TOP CLASS

"He is definitely a top-class player," Ramesh Krishnan told Reuters in an interview.

"Last year certainly was his breakthrough year and this year he has been able to consolidate that...(and) he has shown his ability to play under pressure."

The soft-spoken Thai started off 2003 in sparkling form, triumphing in Chennai in January, and reached the semi-finals of the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami last month.

Having charmed fans around the world with his Thai "wai" greeting, putting his hands together and bowing to the crowd at the end of each game, Paradorn is proving to be the role model that Asian tennis has desperately needed.

"Earlier Asia adopted (American) Michael Chang but that was only the next best thing," said Ramesh.

"It is good (for Asia) someone like Paradorn has come through now. You need someone from your own society (to provide a boost for the sport)."

Ten months and three titles on from that Wimbledon upset victory, Paradorn mania grips his home country and Thai children are begging their parents for tennis rackets.

"I hope that I have set a precedent for all the young Asian players. I hope they will see what I have achieved and think that if I can do it, so can they," said Paradorn.

GROWING STATURE

As a sign of his growing stature in Thai society, Paradorn was presented with a red diplomatic passport by the Thai prime minister last year.

The 23-year-old Paradorn was also named "Thai of the Year" in 2002, ahead of several pop stars and politicians, after taking his maiden ATP title in Long Island and winning the Stockholm Open.

Paradorn has also captured the imagination with his superstitions, pulling on a red shirt when attempting to close out a match and using the same changing cubicle throughout a tournament.

While Paradorn's achievement is taking Asian tennis in the right direction, he believes plenty more still needs to be done to develop the right pedigree of players.

"If I compare Asian tennis to European or American tennis, we have a long way to go," said the world number 10.

"The competition isn't there. Asia doesn't have many tennis players or tournaments. I hope my success will contribute to raising the level of Asian tennis."

Ramesh agreed: "Things have changed somewhat from our time. But the problem still is to get good training, sparring partners et cetera. At some point one still has to leave home and go to Europe if he is to make a name for himself."

For Paradorn, this week's breakthrough should provide him with the ideal platform to take his game to the next level. The only way he can do that, according to Ramesh, is to prove himself in the grand slam events, where he has yet to progress beyond the third round.

"His performances in grand slam events have not been that great," said Ramesh.

"He needs to be up there with the Lleyton Hewitts, Marat Safins and (Roger) Federers.

"The name of the game is how you play in the grand slams.

"There I think he has not been able to break through. But he is young enough. The sooner he does it, it will take him to a different level."