Paradorn Srichaphan’s fascination for red is well known. He says red is his "lucky colour and is the winning colour for Thai people."

The Thailand government has given him a red diplomatic passport, which could be a mere coincidence or a plot hatched to increase his luck manifold.

But things have not been perfect for Srichaphan at the $400,000 Tata Open tennis tournament here. He was surprised that there were no red Mercedes-Benz cars, which is the official courtesy car to take the players around.

He asked one of the organisers for one, but was told that since the sponsor for this annual even has changed since the last two years, the new sponsors want the colour black. No, Srichaphan is too nice a guy to go red in anger.