Chan wraps up double victory

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chan Yung-Jan thumped local hopeful Sandy Gumulya in the singles' final as the 15-year-old Taiwanese ended the US$10,000 ITF Indonesia Women's tennis circuit with double victories here on Sunday.

Chan, who was the seventh seed in the tournament and is currently ranked 750th in the world, came back from a set down with a convincing performance in the remaining sets for a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1 win over second seed, 440th-ranked Sandy.

She continued her winning run in the doubles final with Thai partner Pichittra Thongdach to beat second seeds Liza Andriyani of Indonesia and Thassah Vitayaviroj of Thailand 6-3, 6-4.

"I'm glad that I won two titles here. It is like my second home with the supporters behind me. I want to thank them for the support," Chan told the Jakarta Post after her doubles match at the Senayan tennis court.

The singles match was a close battle but only in the opening set as Sandy seemingly began to be suffering from fatigue.

After winning the opener, Sandy kept the pace early in the second set by taking first two games before Chan decided to be more aggressive in the attack.

Chan's approach worked as Sandy struggled in the returns. And the Taiwanese girl ran through to register six games on the trot.

In the final set, Chan tightened her control of the match, handing Sandy only one game.

"I never met Sandy before so I needed to know the way she played," Chan spoke about the opening stage of the match.

She said after losing the first set she could spot the weaknesses she needed to capitalize on for her victory.

Sandy admitted to not being in top form, which cost her the match.

"When I was leading in the second set, she attacked me so aggressively I was unable to cope. In the last set, I was so tired and I was easily defeated," she said.

In the doubles tussle, Chan once again showed her impressive play to cover the Thongdach's generally below-par performance with the latter's recurrent unforced errors against Liza and Vitayaviroj.

The two pairs were pegged at 3-3 after which Chan and Thongdach steadied themselves and intensified their attacks to win the remaining games.

Swapping breaks continued in the second set as the pairs leveled the score 4-4. The champions once again showed their better teamwork to close the match.