Hendri goes to Future-4 singles and doubles final

JAKARTA (JP): Rising Indonesian tennis star Hendri Susilo Pramono advanced to the men's singles and doubles finals on Friday at the Extra Joss Future-4 at the Kemayoran Tennis Center.

Hendri sweated out a tight semifinal match against teammate Suwandi, emerging with a 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-4 triumph.

In the final, he will meet South Korean Park Seung-kyu, who had a walkover victory in the semifinals after top seeded Danai Udomchoke of Thailand was late in arriving at the tennis center.

In the doubles, Hendri and partner Febi Widhiyanto outshone the veteran duo Bonit Wiryawan and Sulistyo Wibowo 7-6 (7-5), 6- 4. The result was sweet revenge for their loss to the veteran players in the final of last week's tournament.

Hendri and Febi will meet fifth seeds Alan Mackin of England and Luben Pampoulov of Austria, who worked hard to overcome the Indonesian duo of Yusmawan Fahmi and Edo Bawono 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-1 in their semifinal match.

Asked about his chances in the singles event, Hendri would only say he would try his best to beat Park. "I don't know his playing style. I have never played against him, but the opportunity is still there."

Hendri said Suwandi was not at the top of his game in their matchup. "Suwandi played very well in the first set. I could only fight his service. But in the second set, I don't know what happened to him but I felt more comfortable with my game."

In the doubles, he said Bonit and Sulistyo made numerous unforced errors, which ruined their chance to advance to the final of the US$15,000 tournament.

"We managed to take a 5-3 lead in the first set but Bonit and Sulistyo forced a tie break. On the critical point of 5-5, Sulistyo made a double fault and we broke to lead 6-5. I served and we won the first set 7-5," he said.

Looking ahead to the final, he said he had never played against Mackin but he was familiar with Pampoulov from their numerous encounters in junior tournaments.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) launched its new website, www.inatenis.com.

According to August Ferry Raturandang, an employee in Pelti's development, promotions and foreign affairs division, the new website will provide complete information about Indonesian tennis, including the history of Pelti, tournaments results, national and international players' world rankings and the association's activities.

He also said in a media release his division would produce an instructional video starring a number of national tennis players, including Yayuk Basuki, Wynne Prakusya, Suwandi, Andrian Raturandang and Febi, and coaches Tintus Wibowo, Suzanna Wibowo, Deddy Prasetyo and Alfred Raturandang. (ivy)