Febi to open Indonesia's Davis Cup bid against NZ

Febi to open Indonesia's Davis Cup bid against NZ

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Davis Cup team will be looking to retain its
place in Group I when it takes on New Zealand in the Asia-Oceania
playoffs at the Bung Karno Tennis Open Stadium here on Friday.

Indonesia has been condemned to the playoff against the Kiwis
after it lost to Japan in the first round 3-2 here in February.

Febi Widhiyanto, who contributed both points in the Japan
encounter, will open Indonesia's campaign with a match against
Matthew Prentice, 23, on Friday.

Prima Simpatiadji will play Mark Nielsen, 26, in the second
singles later in the day. In Saturday's doubles match, host pair
Suwandi and Bonit Wiryawan will take on visiting duo of Lee
Radovanovich, 21, and William Ward, 18.

Bonit, 36, has been included on the team as the last-ditch
replacement of Hendri Susilo Pramono who is sidelined by a sore
throat.

It will extend to Sunday when the two teams will play reverse
singles with Febi playing Nielsen and Prima against Prentice.

Given past records in which Indonesia has lost in all of their
three match-ups, the hosts might be expecting another daunting
task.

However, Indonesia's non-playing captain Tintus Arianto Wibowo
looked optimistic about the prospects, saying that the order of
play should give an advantage to his side.

Looking ahead for the opening match, he believed that Febi
would have a good chance of stealing the first point.

"I hope that Febi will have his 'A' game on," Tintus said.

He hinted that his team could take both matches on the opening
day but he said that he would not let his players be pressured by
overly high hopes.

Because they have never met, Febi said that he could not
assess Prentice's strengths.

"I hope that observing him and his teammates' play during
their training session would give me a bit of knowledge," Febi
said, adding that he would do his best.

Prima will take the court holding the upper hand against his
New Zealand opponent, because the Indonesian won their only
previous meeting in China in 2002.

A win over New Zealand will keep Indonesian in Group I for
next year's round.

However, it is not an easy task as the visitors have arrived
here also looking for their own redemption after they were dumped
by India led by Davis Cup veteran Leander Paes.

Team captain Bruce Derlin said that his team had been
preparing hard and learned a lot from February's defeat.

"We were unlucky that we failed to beat India, but we have
gained more learning experience each time and we are getting to
know each other's play. We are becoming a much better side,"
Derlin said.

Derlin said that his team was physically and psychologically
ready for the Indonesia match in front the fanatic home fans and
high humidity.

"We are up for the challenge. Davis Cup is a long tradition
for us and we are 110 percent ready," Derlin said.

Prentice said that his last match against Prima was quite
tight and he was looking forward to playing the Indonesian
youngster once again on Friday.

The match will start at 10 a.m. with an entrance fee of Rp
20,000 (US$2.35).