Indonesia avoids Swiss clean sweep in Davis Cup
Indonesia avoids Swiss clean sweep in Davis Cup
JAKARTA (JP): Benny Wijaya denied a Swiss clean sweep at the
Davis Cup World Group qualifier yesterday, as local tennis fans
were disappointed by the absence of Swiss Olympic gold medalist
Marc Rosset.
Indonesia's number one Benny gave his side a consolation win
by breezing past unheralded Swiss Patrick Mohr, a reserve for big
serving Rosset, 6-1, 6-3.
Swiss number two Jakob Hlasek dropped a set but his 6-2, 3-6,
6-3 victory over Suwandi helped Switzerland -- a losing Davis Cup
finalist to the United States in 1992 -- wrap up the tie with 4-
1.
The visiting team fled for Matahari Island, a tourist resort
at Seribu Islands off of North Jakarta, shortly after yesterday's
indecisive two reverse singles matches, without giving any
explanation about Rosset's absence.
Benny, rated 295th in the world, drilled his powerful serve
and volley -- leaving error-prone Mohr the receiving side
throughout the one hour and 14 minutes of play.
A scant crowd of 150 at the 2,000-seat Senayan tennis stadium
found their thirst of victory fulfilled when Benny produced two
breaks to race to a commanding 5-0 lead before sealing the first
set.
Benny continued his power play which had Mohr, who looked
unfamiliar with the rebound-ace surface of Senayan tennis court,
running in the second set. Mohr tallied two more broken services
in the fifth and the ninth games to give up the match to the
host.
Slow-starter Suwandi, Indonesia's number two, was obviously in
a different league from his world number 63 opponent, but managed
to quietly match the Czech-born Hlasek stroke for stroke.
After losing the opening set, Suwandi tactfully showed his
persistence against attack-minded Hlasek, capitalizing on every
error made by the Swiss.
The Indonesian teenage often fired unexpected shots during a
series of long rallies, which accurately landed Hlasek's
unguarded ground. Suwandi broke Hlasek's serve in the eighth game
while saving his own to force a decider.
Punishing shots
Experience, however, always gains the upper hand. Hlasek
blasted five aces and punished Suwandi with powerful ground
strokes, outlasting Suwandi's tenacious, one and a half hour
challenge.
"At last, we managed to steal a point from a strong team. The
win will be a confidence booster for Benny in the upcoming Asian
Games," Indonesian non-playing captain Wailan Walalangi said.
Wailan denied that Rosset's failure to play had upset him.
"It's okay," he said briefly.
Wailan said he was informed by referee Ken Farrar that Rosset
drank too much on Saturday night during Swiss Davis Cup victory
celebration. "Rosset also suffered from a minor injury to his
leg," Wailan quoted Farrar as saying.
Speaking in another press conference, vice chairman of the
International Tennis Federation (ITF) Eichi Kuwatai of Japan
declined to comment on the matter, saying that he was here in his
capacity of a honorary guest.
"Rosset, anyway, should have played," he said. The ITF will
discuss the case in November during its session in Portugal,
based on reports made by Farrar, according to Kuwatai. (arf/amd)