Indonesia advances to Fed Cup's World Group<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia wrapped up a 4-1 victory in a playoff on Sunday to
\nensure a place in the 16-nation World Group of the Fed Cup
\nwomen's team tennis championship.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's victory at the Senayan tennis courts was decided
\nby Angelique \"Angie\" Widjaja who defeated Tina Pisnik 6-4, 5-7,
\n6-1 in two-and-a-half hours.<\/p>\n
The win gave Indonesia an unassailable 3-0 lead after the
\nhosts took the two matches on the opening day, and a berth in the
\nWorld Group to emulate the success in 1991 when the competition
\nwas played under the old format.<\/p>\n
At the end of the match, Angie was wildly applauded by the
\nspectators, while Indonesia's non-playing captain gave her
\nprotege a hug, and the other team members -- Wynne Prakusya, Liza
\nAndriani and Sandy Gumulya -- rushed off the benches to join the
\ncelebrations.<\/p>\n
The players then made a victory lap to round off their
\ntriumphant run.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Angie, ranked 134, overcame No. 61 Katerina
\nSrebotnik in a 6-4, 6-3 victory while Wynne, ranked 309, thumped
\nNo. 45 Pisnik 6-1, 6-4, an unexpected result given the
\nSlovenians' far higher rankings.<\/p>\n
Despite her decisive role, Angie refused to take all the
\ncredit.<\/p>\n
\"This is not my own success. This is the team's. This is the
\nnation's achievement,\" Angie said in a press conference.<\/p>\n
In the dead rubbers, the Indonesian team, who would otherwise
\nhave played Wynne, opted to give Liza Andriani a run against
\nAndreja Klepac, who was fielded to replace Srebotnik.<\/p>\n
Klepac defeated Liza 7-6 (2), 6-2, in what was to be the only
\npoint for the visiting team as Angie and Wynne emphasized the
\nhosts dominance with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Andreja Klepac and Tina
\nKrizan in the doubles later in the day.<\/p>\n
After what appeared to be a relatively easy run on the opening
\nday, the spectators might have expected another stroll on Sunday.
\nTheir hopes appeared justified when Angie pulled ahead to a 4-1
\nlead before sealing the fist set 6-4.<\/p>\n
Howver, the competition became tighter in the second set as
\nPisnik upped the pace which resulted in Angie making a string of
\nunforced errors.<\/p>\n
Angie looked to be tiring, always having to fight a two-game
\ndeficit until the two players leveled at 4-4.<\/p>\n
Angie then built an edge and had the chance to end the match
\nwhen she was wrong-footed by a seemingly bad call from a
\nlinesman.<\/p>\n
As Angie's temper boiled, Pisnik managed to use the momentum
\nto take the set thanks to the impressive slices that gave her
\nseveral points.<\/p>\n
A 10-minute break seemed to be enough time for Angie to
\nrecover, and she was unstoppable in driving her opponent to a 6-1
\ndefeat, during which time Pisnik conceded 12 unforced errors,
\nincluding three double faults.<\/p>\n
\"In the second set, I played too defensively and began to
\ntire. But I never gave up although I lost the second set,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
While admitting their disappointment, Slovenian team non-
\nplaying captain Mima Jausovec praised the home players
\nperformances.<\/p>\n
\"I am very disappointed by the fact that we dropped behind 3-
\n0. But your players have played well and they deserve the
\nvictory. Congratulations,\" Mima said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-advances-to-fed-cups-world-group-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}