Angie gets off to winning start in WTA career

Pariama Hutasoit, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

Indonesian Angelique Widjaja carved out a history of her own as she beat eighth seed Joannette Kruger of South Africa 7-6 (7- 2), 7-6 (7-4) to win her first title on the WTA Tour at the Wismilak International women's tennis tournament here on Sunday.

The win capped Angelique's remarkable run this season, which will skyrocket her ranking from 579 to the mid-170s when the new WTA rankings are issued on Monday. Her previous achievement was taking the Wimbledon junior title in July.

Angelique also became the first Indonesian to win a title at a WTA tournament since Yayuk Basuki triumphed in Beijing seven years ago.

The 16-year-old Angie, who has just returned from representing Indonesia at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, shrugged off any nervousness in a deservedly memorable game.

She braved Kruger's challenge and rose in time to stage a comeback when the South African looked to be dominant in the second set.

Leading 5-2, Kruger held four set points against her young rival, but Angie, as she is nicknamed, fought them off and broke to love to lead 6-5 and hold a match point.

The Indonesian failed on her first match point as she attempted a winner down the line and then dropped her serve after sending an easy volley into the net.

But she was then unchallenged in the tiebreak to claim the winner's cheque of US$27,000.

"In the second set, I somehow allowed myself to let up. I seemed unable to defend myself, which caused my returns to fall short," she said.

"Angie was clever at changing her tactics. She also had great patience and resilience," coach Deddy Tedjamukti said about his protege.

Angie, who had fancied simply looking for a place in the second round, looked enthused with the win, which she said was a big step toward further challenges in the tennis world.

"I'm very surprised that I managed to win my first tournament. I wasn't nervous because I had nothing to lose. When she held the set points I just concentrated and believed in myself."

Kruger, who upset top seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the semifinals, admitted to being shocked at falling at the hands of Angie.

"I'm disappointed with the performance but I'll keep trying to cheer myself up here," she said.

"I think she played better than me. She was more relaxed and handled everything very well," she said.

"I played way too nervously. I didn't play the game I wanted to play. That's what I'm most disappointed about.

Kruger said the game changed course in favor of the Indonesian after she failed to capitalize on her big margin advantage when leading 5-2.

"That really made a big difference. She does hit the ball hard and my game is more suited to playing someone like Arantxa, where I have time to execute my shots."