Hingis arrives today for Fed Cup clash

JAKARTA (JP): World number 17 Martina Hingis of Switzerland and her coach-mother, Melanie Hingis, is expected to arrive today for the Federation Cup's second-round of playoffs against Indonesia.

The playoff is scheduled for July 13 and July 14 at the Senayan stadium.

Other members of the Swiss Fed Cup team arrived here yesterday. The Hingises were unable to travel with them.

"She just won the Wimbledon doubles title on Monday and so could not fly with us. But she will come tomorrow at the same hour with the same Singapore Airlines flight as ours," the Swiss team's press officer Daniel Monnin said yesterday.

Martina Hingis became the youngest Wimbledon champion in history on Monday, at the age of 15 years and 282 days, when she and Czech Helena Sukova completed a rain-delayed women's doubles victory by beating American Meredith McGrath and Latvian Larisa Nieland 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.

Eddy Katimansyah, the Indonesian Tennis Association's publicity officer, announced yesterday that tennis buffs can meet Martina and Indonesia's tennis queen Yayuk Basuki at the Senayan stadium from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow for Rp 10,000 (US$4.30).

This includes tickets to see their matches and a lucky draw, said Eddy. Tickets range from Rp 15,000 for regular seats to Rp 25,000 for VIP seats, he added.

While the Swiss, thanks to Hingis, clearly have the upper hand in the playoff, Eddy yesterday expressed his guarded optimism that Indonesia could overcome the Hingis-led team.

"Hingis must be quite tired after playing both in the women's singles and doubles at Wimbledon. Moreover, she might not be accustomed to Jakarta's heat. Hence, it now depends on Yayuk, on how far she (Yayuk) will go...," Eddy said.

He added that "to say that we could nail a 3-2 win over them would, I think, be realistic enough."

The Swiss team, according to Monnin, will field Martina Hingis as the first singles and world number 81 Patty Schnyder as the second singles while Emanuela Zardo and Andrea Schwarz, both ranked over 100th, may play doubles or serve as reserves.

The Swiss team's nonplaying captain is Melanie Hingis.

As for the Indonesian Fed Cup team, it is clear that world- ranked 28th Yayuk Basuki will play the first singles. But the national tennis board is yet to determine who will play the second singles. Romana Tedjakusuma, 19, dubbed the country's second best player and Yayuk's doubles partner, may no longer be trusted to play the second singles. She played the role unconvincingly in Indonesia's 5-0 drubbing by Belgium in the first round tie last April. She also made no outing during the whole of last year. "A player of her age who has not yet made a name for herself in tennis usually never makes it," coach Suharyadi said.

Suharyadi hinted that junior players Liza Andriyani or Wynne Prakusya might take Romana's place. "Performance wise, however, I prefer Wynne," Suharyadi said. He added, however, that Romana might still make the team -- either in the doubles or as a reserve. (arf)