It has been a quiet, yet quickly blossoming romance for Thai No. 1 Paradorn Srichaphan and former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova.
The couple has been an item since meeting last year at the Thailand Open in Bangkok. Glebova was seen giving Srichaphan a congratulatory kiss after he defeated Tim Henman, and it appears they have been inseparable since. Just prior to the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Srichaphan decided to forego training in the desert in favor of spending time with Glebova in her native Canada, where she was judging a pageant. Professionally, the decision did not pay dividends as he tumbled out of the tournament in the first round, and two weeks later, a nagging wrist injury flared up again and will likely keep him out for the entire duration of the claycourt season.
But Srichaphan has never been a fan of the clay season, and besides, he now has more pressing engagements on his mind – literally.
The English-language Thai paper The Nation reported on Saturday that the 28-year-old Srichaphan had become engaged to the 25-year-old brunette bombshell, and on Tuesday the couple formally announced their engagement to a throng of gathered press at Bangkok’s luxurious Sukhathai Hotel.
Srichaphan, dressed in a brown and gray pinstriped suit, stood alongside Glebova, who donned a strapless yellow dress and had a 3 carat diamond and white gold engagement ring on her finger. Though the couple has been together for a relatively short time, it’s a decision that Srichaphan took after serious thought.
"I'm a bit nervous," he told the media. "For a man to decide to have a family, it's a one-time decision and a big one."
But, he added, "This feels right. We share the same passions and really understand each other.
“It is once in a lifetime that a man has to decide to settle down and have a family and I have only one chance to make this. Natalie is definitely going to be a daughter-in-law for the Thai people."
His fiancée echoed his sentiments. “He's very down to earth and humble, and most importantly I could see that he has compassion and a great heart," Glebova said.
Her parents, who had flown in from Canada for the announcement, were by her side. The couple became engaged on April 13 while in Bali on vacation.
Srichaphan confessed he had been racked by nerves during the proposal. "I knelt down and asked her to marry me and she said 'yes' four times,” he said. “I put the ring on her fourth finger. I had it engraved 'Natalie.'"
While the pair wants to get married within the next eight months, they do plan on waiting for a few years to have children. Srichaphan also has no desire to hang up his racquets any time soon and plans to continue his tennis career at the professional level. "I will continue to play after I settle down, because tennis is my passion."
The Nation predicts that the event will be "one of the most celebrated weddings of 2007," while the Thai Daily News reports that the pair will tie the knot in Bangkok in November. That’s a popular month for tennis nuptials – Ivan Ljubicic and Nicolay Davydenko, who were married in 2004 and 2006, respectively, both had winter weddings to take advantage of the brief tennis off-season.