Angie saddened by reports of bomb blast

Angie saddened by reports of bomb blast

Greg Heakes, Agence France-Presse, Los Angeles, California

Indonesia's top tennis player Angelique Widjaja said Thursday she
was saddened and appalled to learn of another deadly terror
attack on a tourist location in her country.

"It is terrible because everybody wants peace and stability,"
said Angie. "I feel sorry for the people who died.

"After the Bali bombing things seemed to quiet down. It was
getting stable again but now this is going to be bad for the
politics and economy."

Angie's Jakarta home is just 10 minutes by car from the scene
of Tuesday's blast at the luxury hotel which killed at least 10
and injured about 150. The American-owned Marriott Hotel is
popular with foreigners and visiting diplomats.

Angie, a Chinese-Indonesian, also has a brother living in
Jakarta who she tried calling immediately after hearing about the
latest explosion.

"He lives close to the Marriott Hotel so I called and after
trying several times go through to him I found out he is OK,"
said Angie, who lost in three sets 4-6, 6-1, 4-6 to Rita Grande
of Italy on Wednesday.

Angie said the majority of Indonesians don't support the
groups that are behind the carnage.

"Whoever did this is very stupid," said Angie.

Indonesian police are linking the latest blast to the militant
Muslim group Jemaah Islamiah and claim to know the identity of
the suicide bomber. The Jemaah Islamiah is part of a loose
network of southeast Asian terror groups trying to overthrow
governments and set up Muslim alternatives.

There are similarities between this attack and one last
October at the popular tourist resort of Bali which killed 202
people.

The 18-year-old Angie was in Bali for a tennis tournament just
one week before a pair of blasts ripped through Paddy's Bar and
the Sari Club. Foreigners from 21 countries died in the two
explosions.

This is Angie's first full year on the WTA Tour and she has a
modest 10-16 record.

She has two career singles titles and was the 2001 junior
singles champion at Wimbledon.

Angie failed to qualify for the Los Angeles tournament but she
was added to the draw after defending champ Chanda Rubin pulled
out with an injury.

"I haven't had good results so far this year but then this is
my first time playing full-time on the tour," said Angie.

She is hoping to follow in the footsteps of former Indonesian
player Yayuk Basuki, who reached a career high ranking of 19 in
the world in 1997.

Angie was the youngest of six children, growing up in Bandung
which is a three-hour drive east of Jakarta. Her father owns his
own textile company.

She started playing tennis at age four because her five older
brothers had taken up the sport.

"I started going to the tennis court every day because my
older brothers were playing and now I am only one still playing,"
she said.