Angie/Liggan to face Bovina/Henin in Aussie Open

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian Angelique 'Angie' Widjaja, whose singles' hopes at the Australian Open crumbled in an opening round defeat, will team up with Kelly Liggan of Ireland against Elena Bovina/Justine Henin- Hardenne in her doubles campaign at the tennis tournament.

The Russian-Belgian pairing of Bovina and Henin are seeded 14th at the tournament.

Liggan, whose doubles ranking is at 130 compared to Angie's 82, is the Indonesian's second partner in a week after Clarisa Fernandez, whom she teamed with during their elimination in the second round of the Canberra Classic.

"With Clarisa, Angie would not be allowed to the main draw because of their doubles rankings, which, combined together, were still beyond the cut-off," Virginia Rusli, Angie's manager, said.

Angie, who lost early to Japan's Ai Sugiyama in three sets in her singles match, and Liggan, according to Virginia, appear to be able to break into the main draw.

It is not yet clear when the match will be played.

"I haven't got news from Sydney when they play. It may be Thursday," Virginia said when contacted by phone here on Tuesday.

Indonesia's other contender Wynne Adiati Prakusya, who also lost in the first round of the singles competition, has opted to stick with her long-standing partner Janet Lee of Chinese Taipei. According to the draw, they will face 11th seeds Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria)/Iva Majoli (Croatia).

Angie could have turned to Wynne, who also had to abandon her singles dream when she fell to 12 seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, for the doubles. But, Wynne is committed to her partner Lee.

"Angie and Wynne have agreed to play together at the Hyderabad tournament in India early next month," Virginia said.