Hopes rest on Suwandi in first match of Davis Cup
Hopes rest on Suwandi in first match of Davis Cup
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is banking on its first singles player
Suwandi to get his team off to a winning start in the first match
of the Davis Cup Group II Asia Oceania zone against the
Philipines here early next month.
Coach Deddy Prasetyo said on Wednesday that expectations were
high for Suwandi to win against the Philippine second singles
player, likely to be Bryan M. Juinio.
"Suwandi must win his match because our second singles Febi
(Widhiyanto) only has a 50-50 chance against Filipino first
singles Joseph Lizardo in the second match. We'll be lucky if
Febi can also win," he said.
The squad of Suwandi, Febi, Edy Kusdaryanto and Hendri Susilo
Pramono will meet the Philippines from April 2 to April 4 at the
Senayan indoor tennis stadium.
The visitors, set to arrive on Sunday, forwarded a team list
consisting of Lizardo, Juinio, Adelo S. Abadia and Michael John
F. Misa. They will be accompanied by nonplaying captain Martin F.
Misa.
Deddy was relieved by the absence of Cecil Mamiit, holder of
dual U.S.-Philippine citizenship. Mamiit, world ranked in the low
100s, was a finalist at the Sybase Open in February. He upset
world ranked 10 Andre Agassi of the United States. Reports said
Mamiit asked a fee of US$50,000 from the Philippine Tennis
Association to play in the tie.
"Without Mamiit, we have an equal chance against the
Philippines," he said.
Practice
Edy and Hendri will likely play in the doubles on the second
day and meet Lizardo and Misa.
"Edy and Hendri are doubles players and they get along well.
But if, just in case, we lose the first day, we may change our
doubles team," Deddy said.
He added he hoped none of his players would have to play
singles and doubles matches. Reverse singles matches are played
on the third day.
The Filipinos will have four days to practice on the Rebound
Ace court.
"They don't have problems with the weather here. It all
depends on their adaptation to the court," Deddy said.
Earlier, Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) deputy
secretary-general Benny Mailili criticized the Pelti official in
charge of athlete development, Sujiono Timan, who often practices
with the Davis Cup team members.
"If he wants to be involved in athletes development, he must
arrange good programs for them instead of playing with them. It
will disrupt the players' program and concentration," he said.
Suwandi admitted he felt inconvenienced by Sujiono's presence,
which he said disturbed the team's training program.
If Indonesia wins the second playoff, it will meet the winner
of the tie between Thailand and Iran in September to fight for a
berth in Group I.
The Philippines earlier asked Pelti to move the location to a
neutral country and to reschedule the match to July due to
security fears before the June 7 general election. (yan)