Jakarta lacks tennis lovers<\/p>\n
By Arif Suryobuwono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): This year's Indonesia Open Tennis Championships
\nis indeed open -- to question.<\/p>\n
From the women's event which started the tournament on Jan. 2
\nto its men's event finals on Jan. 15, the 3,000-seat Senayan
\nIndoor Tennis Stadium was never filled to capacity.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) organized the two-
\nweek tennis extravaganza to celebrate the country's 50th
\nanniversary. Private bank Danamon, title sponsor of the event,
\ninjected US$600,000 for both the men's and women's competitions,
\nplus the Martina Navratilova-Yayuk Basuki exhibition match.<\/p>\n
There were only 55 spectators in the stadium on the first day,
\ntournament director Eddy Katimansah told The Jakarta Post. And on
\nthe last day? Certainly no more than 200 people were in the
\nstadium even though it was Sunday.<\/p>\n
\"I have worked hard to win the game. The many empty seats made
\nme feel my efforts weren't appreciated,\" said Paul Haarhuis of
\nthe Netherlands who pipped Czech Radomir Vasek in Sunday's final.<\/p>\n
What was wrong with the tournament that there were so many
\nempty seats?<\/p>\n
\"The tournament would have perhaps been overcrowded had the
\nplayers played with nothing on,\" Eddy quipped.<\/p>\n
The obstetrics surgeon said a series of bad breaks seemed to
\nbe the factor discouraging people from attending.<\/p>\n
American world number six Michael Chang, twice champion of the
\ntournament, did not come. He previously made two trips here for
\nthe tournaments which offer a whopping $250,00 appearance money.<\/p>\n
Australian former Wimbledon winner Pat Cash who registered for
\nthe tournament failed to sign-in. Indonesia tennis queen and
\ntriple champion Yayuk was forced to give up her semifinal battle
\ndue to acute diarrhea.<\/p>\n
Then all the Indonesian men's players, who entered the
\ntournament through wildcards and qualifiers, were ousted in the
\nqualifying rounds. To add insult to injury, top seeded Bernd
\nKarbacher of Germany had to pull out of the tournament due to
\nstomach problems.<\/p>\n
Common<\/p>\n
However, Pelti new chairman Sarwono Kusumaatmadja told the
\nPost that \"such poor attendance is currently a common phenomenon
\nin the world, except in places where tennis is traditionally held
\nin high esteem such as Wimbeldon.\"<\/p>\n
Many believe that inviting top-notched world players is a
\npassport to a considerable raise in ticket sales. Facts has shown
\nthat this is true. The Kemayoran Tennis Court in North Jakarta
\nwas fully packed when Gabriela Sabatini played Yayuk in an
\nexhibition match last year.<\/p>\n
According to Amy Yus, a treasury official of Pelti, most of
\nthose who came to the stadium were not really interested in the
\nmatch. \"They bought tickets because they wanted to meet Sabatini
\nin person and see for themselves whether she was really as
\nbeautiful as her photographs or TV appearance,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The same may be said for former tennis great Navratilova who
\nplayed Yayuk in an exhibition match here on Jan. 4 which was
\nattended by a record 2,400 people.<\/p>\n
But they didn't all necessarily come to see the match. Many
\ncame just to be photographed with Martina.<\/p>\n
Eddy showed me photographs of all-smiling very important
\nladies with Martina in their midst. And a man told me how proud
\nhe was to have Martina's personal signature.<\/p>\n
However, Sarwono dismissed the idea that world top players
\nwould guarantee a filled-to-capacity stadium because today's
\ntennis tends to be mechanical, particularly due to the big
\nserving names, and impersonal. Players with attractive
\npersonalities are rare nowadays and this makes tennis less
\ninteresting to watch, he added.<\/p>\n
Hero<\/p>\n
Another factor responsible for the poor turnout, according to
\nSarwono, was that, except for Yayuk, Indonesia lacks tennis heros
\nthe public need.<\/p>\n
People were also reluctant to come to the tournament because
\n\"our players are not in the same league as their opponents,\"
\nSarwono added, pointing out how Indonesia's number one Benny
\nWijaya was forced to run helter-skelter before his first-round
\ndemolition by Markus Zoecke of Germany.<\/p>\n
Two economic students from the Tarumanegara University, West
\nJakarta, and two employees who skipped work to see Benny said it
\nwas bad timing that was to blame for the empty seats. Most of the
\nmatches were held during working hours and students were
\nundergoing exams.<\/p>\n
Moreover, January is not a good month for organizing such
\n\"extravaganza\" as the organizer called it, because January has
\nthe blue Monday effect. \"People were sated with entertainment
\nlast month and are too full to enjoy the event,\" said one of the
\nemployees.<\/p>\n
The ticket prices, Rp 5,000 for rounds and Rp 10,000 for
\nquarter finals, semifinals and final matches, were certainly not
\nexpensive given that tennis is a middle to upper class sport.<\/p>\n
Yet two civil servants from Sumatra who are in a training
\nprogram here claimed Rp 10,000 was too much. They believed the
\nstadium would be crowded if the entrance was free, an idea which
\nEddy quickly rejected.<\/p>\n
\"Everyday we distributed 500 free tickets to all the city's
\ntennis clubs but almost none of them came,\" said Eddy.<\/p>\n
The empty seats spoke not only of a lack of interest. They
\nalso showed who the true tennis lovers are, who, it seems, are
\nfew and far between.<\/p>",
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