Suwandi expected to win 1st singles match<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's top men's singles player Suwandi is
\nexpected to win the first singles match against Cheng Wei-yen of
\nChinese Taipei in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group 2 final on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Second singles Hendri Susilo Pramono would face a tough
\nchallenge from Taiwan's old hand Tsai Chia-yen in the second
\nsingles match at the Kemayoran tennis center in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Veteran Indonesian doubles players Bonit Wiryawan and Sulistyo
\nWibowo will face the doubles pair of Cheng and Chen Wei-ju on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
In the reverse singles matches on Sunday, Suwandi will meet
\nTsai while Hendri will play Cheng. The singles match will kick
\noff at 10 a.m. while the doubles match will start on 2 p.m.<\/p>\n
The winner of the match will face a tough survival test in the
\nAsia Oceania Group 1 as the top seed Uzbekistan has been drawn to
\nplay in the first round next February.<\/p>\n
\"The key to the team's victory lies in Suwandi's hand. If he
\ncan win his match against Cheng, we are sure to win 2-0 in the
\nfirst day. Hopefully he can do it because he is more experienced
\nand astute now,\" coach Deddy Prasetyo told reporters after the
\ndrawing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Deddy restrained himself from predicting his team's chances
\nbut said: \"We will try our best and let God do the rest.\"<\/p>\n
Both Deddy and Taiwanese Cheng said the result of the drawing
\nwas as expected.<\/p>\n
\"I had guessed who the singles players would be. And the draw
\nwent as expected,\" Deddy said<\/p>\n
\"We were expecting it,\" said Cheng, who is ranked 1200th by
\nATP and currently the fifth ranked player in his country.<\/p>\n
Cheng was tightlipped about his chances of defeating Suwandi.
\n\"I have never played Suwandi. We never played against each other.
\nI'll try my best and we'll see what happens.\"<\/p>\n
But he said that he had observed Hendri's play.<\/p>\n
Tsai said he was confident he can beat Hendri in the first
\nmatch.<\/p>\n
\"I have never played Hendri. But I've got a good chance
\nbecause this is Hendri's first Davis Cup tie as a singles player.
\nMoreover, I have been preparing for this clash for about two or
\nthree months.\"<\/p>\n
He also said that he beat Suwandi two times in their previous
\nhead-to-head matches. But Deddy said Suwandi lost to Tsai due to
\nhis lesser experience when both players were playing in the
\njunior tournaments.<\/p>\n
\"It was a long time ago when Tsai beat Suwandi. I think
\nSuwandi is more experienced and clever now,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Deddy also said that he had asked Suwandi to continuously
\nchange his playing rhythm on Friday because Cheng was an all-
\nrounded player.<\/p>\n
Chinese Taipei surprisingly assigned its no. 1 player, Chen
\nWei-ju to play in the doubles instead of singles. Tsai, who is
\nalso the team's coach, said that the team had no idea of Chen's
\nplay.<\/p>\n
\"Chen Wei-ju is studying in Japan and we don't know how he
\nplays. So we changed our team list just two days ago,\" said Tsai,
\nwho is also ranked 1200th in the world. (ivy)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/suwandi-expected-to-win-1st-singles-match-1447893297",
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