We've got everything else on tour, so why not a monk too?
From the AP: Paradorn uses time off to visit Buddhist temple, adopts name
Answering the call to alms is something Paradorn Srichaphan thinks will help him on and off the tennis court.
Asia's leading player spent time as a Buddhist monk last month, adopting the Buddhist name Mahaviro, which means "great and brave," for his seven days in a temple outside Bangkok.
He had his head shaved in a traditional ceremony prior to donning the monk's saffron-colored robes, and still has short-cropped hair.
"It was pretty interesting for me that week, my time away from tennis," Paradorn said. "It was a really calm week. Everything I have -- the phone, the family -- I just cut it, left it behind, walked into the temple and became a monk.
"It feels good after that."
It is customary for Thai men to serve in the monkhood for at least one period in their lives as a way of showing their religious devotion.
Paradorn decided it was his time in December, saying he felt himself fading under the pressure of public expectations after the highs of late 2002 and 2003, when he reached a career-high No. 9 in the rankings...
"It all started so quickly for me, in 2002, and it continued for 2½ years, then I started to drop my ranking," he said. "I'd been playing a lot of tennis, plus there's always new players coming up.
"There was also a lot more expectations from home. There's always more happening off the court that you have to think about that sometimes makes you feel under pressure."
After a strict daily regime of 4 a.m. wake ups, long hours of fasting and meditation, he's got a new perspective on things.
"I feel like I'm more relaxed," he said. "I'm still going to play another four of five years and my goal is to try and make it back into the top 20.
"But I feel like whatever is going to happen, let it happen. If you go out there and if you try your best, that's what counts."
The time meditating will help his concentration on the court, he says.
"You have to mix what you learn from the temple to be on the court," he said. "I can use that one week I spent in the temple -- I can be really calm."
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