Indonesia, China tied 1-1 in Davis Cup meet

Indonesia, China tied 1-1 in Davis Cup meet

JAKARTA (JP): Peter Handoyo relished a winning start to his
Davis Cup career as Indonesia drew level 1-1 with China in their
Asia-Oceania relegation play-off match at the Kemayoran
Hardcourt, Central Jakarta, on Friday.

Peter gave Indonesia a shock 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over
Chinese number one player, Zhang Yu. The visitors pulled an
equalizer through Zhu Ben-Qiang, who beat Suwandi 7-6 (7-5), 2-6,
0-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a match that lasted over three hours.

The results mean that the tie will be decided on Sunday, when
the singles players of the two teams swap opponents. Saturday
contests the doubles match.

Ranked far below his opponent and considered to have no enough
international tournaments, 22-year-old Peter battled his way to
turn the tables.

"This is the first time I have played in the Davis Cup. I did
not expect too much from the match, because I feared it would
weigh too heavily on me," Peter told a post-tournament
conference.

"I was determined I had to focus on may play. I had to play
the best I could."

The match proved that Zhang was not as tough as expected.
Peter had an easy game en route to taking the first set, breaking
Zhang's serves twice in the process.

Zhu fought back in the second set, but Peter recovered in the
following sets. He looked to have worn down the Chinese's stamina
while the Indonesian conceded only a single game to seal the set
and match.

Unlike the first singles match, the Suwandi-Zhu game provided
a close encounter between two players of different styles early
from the start. Both exchanged points throughout the first set
which the serve-volleyer Chinese won in a tiebreaker.

But the tussle suddenly swung to a one-sided affair with Zhu
becoming a lame duck opponent and letting Suwandi almost take
full command.

Suwandi was 1-2 down early before taking all the remaining
games for 6-2 in the second set and 6-0 in the third.

However, he was caught out by his own lapses in the deciding
set.

The result could have been irritating. But Suwandi had an
excuse for the defeat given his confession ahead of the
tournament that he had been nursing an abdominal injury he
sustained during his performance at the just-concluded SEA Games.

Yet, when asked whether his injury did impede his game, the
25-year-old did not commit himself. He stalled a few seconds
before saying:" I said before I had been injured. But I'm
committed to the team."

Tintus Arianto Wibowo, the non-playing captain, offered his
own explanation for Suwandi's decline in the final two sets.

"Suwandi slipped up after making a love game in the third set.
He entered the fourth only to have his serves broken early.

"He played too safe. He should have challenged his opponent
more boldly. He should have dared to take risks," Tintus said
about his protege.

Meanwhile, Zhu Ben-Qiang admitted to being affected by the
searing heat.

"The weather is too hot and I had some problems in making
serves," he said about his initial sets through an interpreter.

Saturday's match, which is scheduled for 2 p.m., will pit
Bonit Wiryawan/Sulistyo Wibowo against Li Si/Yang Jing Zhu. (01)