Davis Cup heroes return to thrill tennis officials
Davis Cup heroes return to thrill tennis officials
JAKARTA (JP): A warm welcome and enthusiasm for future
challenges met the Indonesian Davis Cup team as it arrived at the
national tennis headquarters yesterday.
Sarwono Kusumaatmadja was the most enthusiastic of the
officials who greeted the team at the headquarters. He was
thrilled by the team's 3-2 victory over the Philippines.
"I hope the victory could bring in more companies to sponsor
the team at a number of competitions," said Sarwono, the state
minister of environment and also chairman of the Indonesian
Tennis Association.
The victorious Davis Cup team of Suwandi, Andrian Raturandang,
Bonit Wiryawan and Sulistyo Wibowo returned from Manila
yesterday.
Indonesia defeated the Philippines 3-2 in the first round tie
of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group which ended Sunday.
The victory means Indonesia will face New Zealand in the next
round in Jakarta in April.
The Indonesian players completed a mighty comeback after
losing 0-2 in the opening singles last Friday to the Philippines
when Robert Angelo beat Suwandi 7-6 7-6 6-3 and Joseph Lizardo
overcame Andrian 6-4 5-7 7-5.
The doubles team of Bonit Wiryawan and Sulistyo Wibowo made it
1-2 after beating Pio Tolentino and Michael Misa in straight sets
6-1 6-4 6-0 Saturday.
Suwandi bounced back from his disappointing loss in the
opening singles and beat Joseph Lizardo 6-2 1-6 6-3 5-7 6-2 to
make the score 2-2 for Indonesia on Sunday.
On the same day, Bonit Wiryawan, playing in place of Andrian,
took the score to 3-2 after beating Angelo in five sets 6-2 1-6
4-6 6-1 6-3.
"Our players were not disturbed by the 2-0 loss but instead
were confident they could beat the Philippines. This was also
evident in the way Australia managed to defeat France in the
world group Davis Cup tie," Sarwono said.
Optimistic
He was optimistic that Indonesia could beat New Zealand in the
next tie here.
"Indonesia will beat New Zealand so long as the team is well
prepared, physically and mentally," Sarwono said.
Andrian, the second singles player who lost to Lizardo, was
frustrated by comments that he lost because of over confidence.
He blamed his loss on poor air circulation in the Indoor
Philippines Columbian Association stadium.
"It's not true my loss to Lizardo was because of my over
confidence but because of the stadium's poor air circulation,"
Andrian said.
Andrian had a chance to win the match after stealing the
second set, even though he vomited during the set.
In the third set, Andrian's physical condition deteriorated.
He vomited again, but struggled on regardless. Andrian finished
the match before being sent to hospital.
Virgilo Sison, the Philippines non-playing captain told The
Manila Times recently that he was upset by their players'
performance in the competition but admired the Indonesians sudden
comeback victory.
"Our boys played well, but the Indonesians displayed super-
human qualities. I'm hats off to them," the Times quoted Sison as
saying.
Sison added, "Yes, we had some miscalculations and some
timings were off. And I take full responsibility for these."
(lnt)