Febi beats Suwandi to retain Cigna title

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.