Champion Febi defends Cigna Open tennis title
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Febi Widhiyanto successfully defended his Cigna Open title after defeating top seed Suwandi in the final at the Hilton Executive Club hardcourts here on Sunday.
Febi won the match 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in an hour and a quarter, after play had been interrupted for around half an hour due to rain.
"What a relief. I came here to play as well as possible. I had nothing to lose against Suwandi. He was the top seed here and more experienced," Febi told reporters after the match.
Febi, 22, capped his singles victory with a win in the doubles, pairing with Hendri Susilo Pramono. The duo outplayed Edy Kusdaryanto and Ferdy Fauzi 6-4, 6-4.
The 2002 Cigna Open, which offered total prize money of Rp 60 million (US$5,890), also proved successful for Liza Andriyani, who missed out on a spot in the national team for the Federation Cup, with victory in both the singles and doubles.
After securing the doubles title with Wukirasih Sawondari on Friday, she carried on with a 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win over fellow West Javanese Diana Julianto in Saturday's singles final.
In the men's final, Febi had his serve broken in the fourth game but promptly broke back in the next. He broke again in the ninth game before holding on to seal the set.
Both players exchanged breaks early in the second set. Febi was leading 3-2 and 40-15 when the rain began to fall, delaying play for half an hour.
Suwandi looked to have evened things up, but Febi successfully dealt with the attempted fightback to take a two game lead.
Febi managed to survive two set points that would have sent the match into a third.
"I was nervous after the delay. It threw me a bit when Suwandi changed tactics and switched to long rallies. I had to try and get back into the groove," he said.
He is still trailing 2-3 in head-to-head meetings with Suwandi.
Unlike earlier in the tournament when spectators didn't appear to be supporting particular players, Saturday's final saw the crowd divide its loyalties, adding to the atmosphere.
Suwandi must have been ruing missed opportunities when he twice squandered game points in the second set that would have taken the match to a third.
"It seemed like I didn't make the most of my chances," he said. The 26-year-old Indonesian number one put a positive spin on the result when he said: "It's good that Febi was able to beat me. It means that there is someone else ready to replace me."