Indonesia advances to Fed Cup's World Group
Indonesia advances to Fed Cup's World Group
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta
Indonesia wrapped up a 4-1 victory in a playoff on Sunday to
ensure a place in the 16-nation World Group of the Fed Cup
women's team tennis championship.
Indonesia's victory at the Senayan tennis courts was decided
by Angelique "Angie" Widjaja who defeated Tina Pisnik 6-4, 5-7,
6-1 in two-and-a-half hours.
The win gave Indonesia an unassailable 3-0 lead after the
hosts took the two matches on the opening day, and a berth in the
World Group to emulate the success in 1991 when the competition
was played under the old format.
At the end of the match, Angie was wildly applauded by the
spectators, while Indonesia's non-playing captain gave her
protege a hug, and the other team members -- Wynne Prakusya, Liza
Andriani and Sandy Gumulya -- rushed off the benches to join the
celebrations.
The players then made a victory lap to round off their
triumphant run.
On Saturday, Angie, ranked 134, overcame No. 61 Katerina
Srebotnik in a 6-4, 6-3 victory while Wynne, ranked 309, thumped
No. 45 Pisnik 6-1, 6-4, an unexpected result given the
Slovenians' far higher rankings.
Despite her decisive role, Angie refused to take all the
credit.
"This is not my own success. This is the team's. This is the
nation's achievement," Angie said in a press conference.
In the dead rubbers, the Indonesian team, who would otherwise
have played Wynne, opted to give Liza Andriani a run against
Andreja Klepac, who was fielded to replace Srebotnik.
Klepac defeated Liza 7-6 (2), 6-2, in what was to be the only
point for the visiting team as Angie and Wynne emphasized the
hosts dominance with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Andreja Klepac and Tina
Krizan in the doubles later in the day.
After what appeared to be a relatively easy run on the opening
day, the spectators might have expected another stroll on Sunday.
Their hopes appeared justified when Angie pulled ahead to a 4-1
lead before sealing the fist set 6-4.
Howver, the competition became tighter in the second set as
Pisnik upped the pace which resulted in Angie making a string of
unforced errors.
Angie looked to be tiring, always having to fight a two-game
deficit until the two players leveled at 4-4.
Angie then built an edge and had the chance to end the match
when she was wrong-footed by a seemingly bad call from a
linesman.
As Angie's temper boiled, Pisnik managed to use the momentum
to take the set thanks to the impressive slices that gave her
several points.
A 10-minute break seemed to be enough time for Angie to
recover, and she was unstoppable in driving her opponent to a 6-1
defeat, during which time Pisnik conceded 12 unforced errors,
including three double faults.
"In the second set, I played too defensively and began to
tire. But I never gave up although I lost the second set," she
said.
While admitting their disappointment, Slovenian team non-
playing captain Mima Jausovec praised the home players
performances.
"I am very disappointed by the fact that we dropped behind 3-
0. But your players have played well and they deserve the
victory. Congratulations," Mima said.