Angie, Wynne crash out of Wismilak tournament

Pariama Hutasoit, Contributor, Nusa Dua, Bali

Indonesia lost its last hopes when its top two tennis players, Angelique 'Angie' Widjaja and Wynne Prakusya failed to get through to the next round of the Wismilak Tennis Tournament in Nusa Dua on Wednesday.

Angelique surrendered to Spaniard Marta Morrero in straight sets 4-6, 3-6 in the afternoon. Earlier in the day, Wynne lost to Morrero's compatriot Conchita Martinez in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 1- 6.

Hundreds of spectators were disappointed when the country's rising star Angelique, winner of last year's tournament here, played nervously and tensely. Unlike her previous matches, Angie looked ill-at-ease. Morrero, on the other hand, looked relaxed and comfortable.

"I did not play to the top of my form. I could not anticipate my opponent's shots," said Angelique during a media conference after the game.

Her loss to Morrero will see her ranking drop dramatically.

"But, I will play hard in the upcoming Asian Games in Busan (South Korea)," Angelique said.

She will also participate in the Australia Open and the Pattaya Tennis Tournament in Thailand at the end of this year.

Asked whether her promotional activities had disturbed her concentration, Angelique denied the suggestion.

"No, I have prepared myself for the games. All the coaching clinics and promotional activities did not influence my play," she said.

Morrero, however, praised Angie as a good player. "She is a very promising player. She just played a little bit nervously," Morrero said.

The Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua's Center Court also witnessed Wynne's defeat in her match against Martinez.

After taking the second set 6-3, Wynne suffered from knee and hand injuries in the third set, forcing her out of the tournament in an easy defeat.

Also on Wednesday, Indonesian doubles couple Liza Andriyani and Wukirasih Sawondari also failed to advance to the next round after going down to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain and Svetlana Kuznetsova from Russia 3-6, 7-5, 4-6.

On Wednesday evening, Angelique teamed up with Wynne to play in a doubles match against Ansley Cargill of the United States and Kelly Liggan of Ireland. On a separate court, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario played against Nicole Pratt of Australia. The results of both matches were not available as of the time of going to print.

In Leipzig, Germany, local qualifier Anca Barna set up a second-round clash with world number one Serena Williams by beating Belgian Elke Clijsters 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Leipzig Grand Prix on Tuesday.

Top seed Williams, who heads a strong field also including Jelena Dokic and Justine Henin, received a bye in the first round.

Second seed Dokic plays American Meghann Shaughnessy on Wednesday, while third seed Henin will take on Czech Iveta Benesova.

In Palermo, Italy, second seed Fernando Gonzalez defeated Croatian Zeljko Krajan 6-3, 2-2 on Tuesday in a first round match of the ATP tournament here.

Argentinean Jose Acaruso, third seed, posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Swede Andreas Vinciguerra.