A few good men: Picking and choosing needs a level head

A few good men: Picking and choosing needs a level head

After losing its two previous Davis Cup encounters with
Uzbekistan in 3-2 squeakers, Indonesia has a chance to change the
scoreline in Sunday's final singles matches. But with one name
notably missing from Indonesia's lineup, former top 20 women's
singles player Yayuk Basuki examines the tricky art of making the
right choices.

Coming in to the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group 1 tie, I thought
we had a good chance to make it third time lucky against
Uzbekistan. We are playing at home, in the heat (very different
from a European winter) and we have hometown support.

Uzbekistan also does not have the same players that it did in
Jakarta in 2001 and in Tashkent two years later. There is no Oleg
Ogadorov this time, and Vadim Kutsenko is only playing doubles.
In their place, the Uzbeks are fielding two 19-year-old Cup
rookies.

So I was disappointed when our team lineup was announced last
week. Instead of Febi Widhiyanto, the powers that be decided that
Suwandi was a better pick.

In my opinion, it was the wrong choice.

Suwandi, who is a member of the tennis camp of Indonesian
Tennis Association (PELTI) chief Martina Wijaya, is no longer a
full time player.

When he was 16 and making his Cup debut, he had it all, with a
flowing game and the ability to hit a backhand slice or topspin
at will.

Today, at 29, he is no longer in top condition, has other
interests and does not seem to have the necessary commitment to
the game. Winning or losing seems all the same to him. He lost in
the quarterfinals in the Cigna Open two weeks ago here to veteran
Sulistyo Wibowo, who is now a coach.

But Prima Simpatiaji is a good choice. Coming off his win in
the Cigna, he is now following in on his big serve to put the
ball away, instead of just waiting back on the baseline. I saw
him play on Friday, and he was attacking at every opportunity.

He's in good shape, he has matured and now has the experience
that he lacked just a year ago. He is a dependable choice to win
both his singles.

Prima actually has more weapons than Febi, but the latter is
tougher. Prima could probably beat him, but Davis Cup is a whole
different ball game from individual play, where the pressure of
playing for your country can overwhelm "softer" players.

For Davis Cup, you need someone who is really cool on the
court, who won't give up easy points in tight situations, and
those are the qualities I like in Febi.

In my understanding, Febi was left off the team because he
chose to play tournaments in Australia instead of training at
home here. But he was back in Indonesia last week, and would have
been ready to play this week. And he was playing those
tournaments to get in top shape for Uzbekistan.

It seems to me there were other things behind the decision.
For one, Febi's coach, Deddy Prasetya, has had a few run-ins with
the association.

Second, Prima, who had been coached by Deddy for the past few
years, suddenly decided to leave about three months ago, saying
he wanted to go back to school.

A week later, he was playing for Martina's camp. That kind of
parting of the ways is not good, especially when you are supposed
to be a professional athlete and in the small community that is
Indonesian tennis.

Although I have always hated the politicking that goes on in
tennis, I have experienced it first hand. In 1997, PELTI decided
that we would play our Fed Cup match against Italy on clay -- my
least comfortable surface but the one the Italian women are
raised on. The Italian players could not believe their luck.

The association had not consulted me, their top player. I
asked my husband, who was also my coach, to send a letter to the
International Tennis Federation to find out how much time was
required for a decision to be made on changing the surface.

I was not telling them to change the venue, but PELTI chose to
see it that way.

I was banned from playing in the tie, and the Italians
massacred us in Senayan.

This Davis Cup team lineup has once again showed how decisions
can be tarnished by personal, petty disputes and concerns.

Who plays and who doesn't in something as important as a Davis
Cup tie has to be made fairly and with a level head. Put aside
the differences, the past problems and issues, and come together
in the goal of Indonesia winning.

A team must be made up of the best players, regardless of whom
they are affiliated with or whether they are one's personal
favorite. A leader must be willing to listen to others outside
his or her immediate circle, for members of the latter may have
their own agenda.

I sincerely hope that my fears will be proved wrong on Sunday,
especially with a 2-1 lead and Prima's skills. If not, Indonesia
will have to eat humble pie once again due to partial decision-
making.

Yayuk Basuki talked to The Jakarta Post's Bruce Emond.