Febi, Hendri advance to doubles final
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Third seeds Febi Widhianto and Hendri Susilo of Indonesia advanced to the doubles final of the US$6,250 Indonesia Men's Satellite Tennis Circuit by defeating Ketut Nesa Arta of Indonesia and Gafur Ishmatov of Uzbekistan 7-6 (4), 6-4 here on Friday.
Febi and Hendri earlier in the day were handed a quarterfinal win by default after Dominique Coene and Pin Van Mele failed to continue the Thursday's rain-disrupted match because of injury.
The Indonesians were leading 7-6 (5), 5-3 when the rain began to fall on Thursday.
The Belgian pair had to abandon the match after Coene suffered a shoulder injury during his quarterfinal 6-3, 1-0 loss in the singles to top seed Alan Mackin of Great Britain.
"Coene suffered a shoulder injury during the first set," referee Gary Au Yeung confirmed.
In the semifinal match on Friday, Febi and Hendri faced a tough challenge in Ketut and Ishmatov.
Neither pair was able to hold serve in the first set until they were all even at 6-6. In the tie break, Ketut and Ishmatov, who defeated second seeds Philippe Frayssinoux of France and Vince Mellino of Australia in the quarterfinals 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, made three unforced errors to help Febi and Hendri take the set 7-6 (4).
The match continued to be a tight affair in the second set, with things all even at 4-4 until Febi and Hendri broke their opponent's serve and then held their own serve to win the set 6- 4.
"It was a good game because we already know each other, though Ketut has a new partner, Ishmatov from Uzbekistan," Febi said after the match.
For Febi, the victory helped him forget his failure in the singles competition, where he was upset by third seed Chen Ti of Chinese Taipei 7-5, 6-1 in the second round.
He is guardedly optimistic about his chances for a doubles title.
"Let's see what happens tomorrow (Saturday)," he said.
In the final, Febi and Hendri will meet unseeded Liu Tai-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Si Yen-Ming of Malaysia, who beat fourth seeds Chris Kwon and Philip Stolt of United States 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal match.
Liu and Si, who came back in the quarterfinals to beat Indonesians Suwandi and Sunu Wahyu Trijati 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, exploited numerous errors by Kwon and Stolt.
The American fourth seeds at times put on displays of excellent tennis, but their rash of unforced errors cost them the match.
After losing the first set 6-4, the Americans began to show their frustration in the second set.
The inconsistent Kwon smashed his racket onto the court several times as the Americans also lost the second set 6-4.
In the semifinals of the men's singles, Mackin will face fellow Briton Michael Ourarov, who defeated third seed Chen Ti of Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-3 in quarterfinal.
The other semifinal match will pit Tristan Meniane of France against Korean Suk Hyun-Joon. Meniane beat second seed David Sherwood of Great Britain 0-6, 7-5, 6-4, while Suk edged eighth seed Liu Tai-Wei of Chinese Taipei 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.