Febi, Hendri advance to doubles final
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.