The match started two-and-a-half hours late due to heavy rain, and was interrupted twice as the rain returned, dragging out the match to four-and-a-half hours.

The victory was a sweet moment for Indonesian men’s tennis, which had gone without a gold medal since Suwandi won triumphed at the 1993 SEA Games in Singapore.

Christopher had just days earlier led the men’s team to win the men’s team gold medal, after a drought of eight years.

“I don’t really follow history. I didn’t even know who had bagged the last gold … but I’ve done my best. All my hard work has paid off,” Christopher, 21, said at a press conference after the match.

Christopher, who said that he had felt confident since the first game thanks to boisterous support from the crowd, dictated most of the match.

“I put pressure on [Udomchoke] from the first game [of the first set]. When I won the first set, my
confidence increased, and that was the main key to winning the match,” he said, adding that he had not allowed the rain breaks to discourage him.

The winner of the 2008 French Open’s junior doubles title, along with his Finnish partner Henri Kontinen, said that his packed tournament schedule this year had boosted his confidence.

“The tournaments were really useful for my fighting morale.”

Christopher won three national future competitions worth US$10,000 each this year.

The world No. 424 said that he had managed to break down Udomchoke’s confidence in the first game of both sets.

“I knew that he was burdened as the favorite for gold. So when he got nervous, I continued to pressure him,” said Christopher, who had lost his last five encounters with Udomchoke this year, three in the Davis Cup and two in ITF future tournaments.

Meanwhile, Udomchoke praised Christopher’s performance, adding that his first serve percentage had let him down.

“This was my fourth time meeting with Christopher, and he had improved a lot since our last match,” Udomchoke said.

However, world No. 211 Udomchoke, 30, said he was entirely to blame for his loss.

“I came to win the gold, espe-cially with my ranking. But [Christopher] had prepared well,” he added.

In the women’s singles, Indonesian Ayu Fani Damayanti also won gold with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Thailand’s Noppawan Lertcheewakarn.

“I’m really happy and grateful to be able to maintain the gold streak, although we were all challenged by the weather,” said the 26-year-old.

At the time of writing, all doubles matches were still in progress.

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