Belgium plumps for Appelmans and van Roost

JAKARTA (JP): The Belgium Fed Cup team, in a surprise move yesterday, picked Dominique van Roost as the second singles instead of Laurence Courtois in its match against host Indonesia on Saturday.

Van Roost will also team up with Sabine Appelmans, who was drawn to play as the first singles, instead of regular pairing of Courtois and Nancy Feber.

"Dominique is an exceptional player on hard court. I'm sorry, but that's all I can say on why I picked her," said the Belgium non-playing captain Steven Martens.

Speaking about his doubles team, Martens said that his decision was taken in accordance with the condition of his players.

"I think the other pair (Courtois and Feber) are not 100 percent fit for the match," Martens said.

Host Indonesia, on the other hand, did not pull any surprises when it announced that the country's tennis queen, Yayuk Basuki, together with Romana Tedjakusuma, will be the heroines to defend the country in the match.

Indonesian non-playing captain Suharyadi said that the Belgium decision had been anticipated, and that there will be no problem in determining who will be Romana's opponent in the second singles.

The draw, which was witnessed by chairman of the Indonesia Tennis Association Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and Belgian Ambassador Marc van Rysselderghe, placed Yayuk to oppose van Roost in the first singles match, and Appelmans to play Romana in the second singles.

"The chances for winning are 75-25 for Yayuk, and 60-40 for Appelmans," Martens said.

"Dominique will be a big star if she can upset Yayuk, then Appelmans can play more relaxed," he added.

Both teams hope to steal points from one another. Indonesia will rely on Yayuk, while Belgium expects Appelmans to beat Romana.

Yayuk said that being the first single did not create any burdens for her.

"We are representing Indonesia, and this is the best team we have now," she said.

Yayuk, who has never met van Roost before, said that she is a total baseliner.

"Her strokes are very accurate. She's more offensive than Courtois and she tends to get in as many winning points as she can," she said.

Van Roost declined to comment on her chances against Yayuk, because she has "never played against her before".

Suharyadi, Yayuk's coach and husband, said that placing Romana in the second singles is the best decision he could have made.

"Romana is rapidly improving in terms of her physical condition. She'll be able to deal with mental pressure better than the two juniors," he said.

Juniors Liza Andriyani and Wynne Prakusya have been prepared for the big match. It seemed that Suharyadi did not want to take a risk by placing one of them as the second singles.

Romana, who never played either Appelmans or van Roost, said that she felt better compared to her first day here.

"I just hope that on Saturday and Sunday, I can play my best," said Romana, who has previously joined the country's Fed Cup team four times.

"I think Sabine is a very good player. Her groundstrokes are very consistent. I'll try my best to upset her," she commented on her opponent.

Both teams seemed to rely on whether or not they were victorious in singles before deciding on the doubles match. The decision of the doubles is not yet fixed 100 percent.

"I'll see the results of the singles matches first," Martens said, "If Sabine plays well, she can play in doubles."

"Our doubles can still be changed," Suharyadi said.

Romana, who just arrived here early this weekend from her college in Louisiana, said that she would not have any problems in the second day when she would be playing singles and doubles.

"I think I'm accustomed to it. I did exactly the same thing last year," she said. (05)