Febi beats Suwandi to retain Cigna title

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Febi Widhiyanto defended his Cigna Open title by defeating top seed Suwandi 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-4 at the Hilton Executive Club tennis court in Jakarta on Sunday.

And in the women's final Sandy Gumulya upset defending champion Liza Andriyani 6-4, 6-3 in the tournament, which provided US$9,000 in cash prizes.

Febi shrugged off any lethargy he may have suffered from his long and tiring semifinal match against Peter Handoyo on Saturday to deny Suwandi revenge for his loss last year.

Febi, 23, who was stretched to tie-breaks in his three-set victory over Peter, exercised restraint to wear Suwandi down in the deciding set.

"We are equally tired during the closing set. It was just because I was more patient than Suwandi out there that I won the match," Febi said.

Febi, who reveled in his consolation win in Indonesia's 2-3 loss to Uzbekistan in their Davis Cup tie last week, could have taken the opening set as he held control over his opponent during the tie-break.

After saving himself from a set point three times, he had his own chance to take it out but squandered a two-point lead during the tie-break at 5-3 when he let Suwandi win four consecutive points.

"I tried to expect points from my serving and volleying game, which I actually rarely use myself. It backfired on me as Suwandi held them off with his good returns," said Febi, who will prepare for a challenger tournament in New Zealand within the next two weeks.

After exchanging breaks in the opening two games of the second set, the two players held serve with the champion leading until he broke Suwandi in the closing game for a 6-4 win.

Suwandi attacked early in the third set for a 2-0 lead but Febi clawed back in the remaining games leaving Suwandi beginning to languish at the baseline.

He once seemed to take control when his sharp backhand slices stifled Febi's serves only to find that he was broken back in the following games.

"Actually, I was not loosening up my offense. It might be because my stamina was going down that I looked to be retreating," the 27-year-old said, adding he was pondering retirement but did not mention a definite year.

"It depends on how I perform in the next few tournaments," he said.

Suwandi made amends for his loss by taking the doubles prize with Peter Handoyo at the expense of Febi and Hendri Susilo Pramono for a 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 victory.

Liza and Wukirasih Sawondari retained their women's doubles title after they thumped Eny Sulistyowati and Mimma Chernovita 6- 0, 6-2 in the final on Saturday.