Indonesia crushes India 3-0 in Fed Cup opener
Indonesia crushes India 3-0 in Fed Cup opener
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian women's tennis team successfully kicked off its
Federation Cup campaign in Guangzhou, China, on Monday, scoring a
3-0 victory over India in Asia-Oceania Group One play.
Angelique Widjaja opened things up for Indonesia by beating
Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-1, 6-2, according to an official of the
country's tennis governing body, Pelti.
After Wynne Prakusya defeated Manisha Malhotra 6-2, 6-3, to
secure an unassailable 2-0 lead, the team had the opportunity to
rest its top doubles team and instead field Wukirasih Sawondari
and Diana Julianto.
However, Indonesia did not want to risk winning by a small
margin, so it trotted out Angie, as Angelique is known, and Wynne
for the doubles round.
The move paid off with a 6-3, 6-4, win over Rushmi and
Manisha.
"In a round-robin format like the Fed Cup, we can't afford to
squander an opportunity to win big. Otherwise, we could end up
regretting the missed opportunity if we lost out on a tiebreaker
at the end of the competition," Pelti spokesman Benny Mailili
said.
Indonesia is in Group A with Chinese Taipei, South Korea, New
Zealand and India. Group B is made up of China, Hong Kong, Japan,
the Philippines, Thailand and Uzbekistan.
The winners of the two groups will meet in the final, with the
winner moving on to vie for a spot in the World Group.
With only five nations in the group, Tuesday will be an off
day for Group A. Play will resume on Wednesday with Indonesia
taking on Chinese Taipei.
Benny said that while the whitewash over India had been
expected, the Chinese Taipei match would be a test for Indonesia
and the outcome could not be predicted.
Wynne and Angie, ranked 100 and 126 respectively by the
Women's Tennis Association, should have the upper hand over
Chinese Taipei's Janet Lee and Hsieh Su Wei, who are ranked 108
and 153, respectively.
"But that does not guarantee a win for Wynne over Lee or Angie
over Su Wei," Benny said.
When not competing in the Fed Cup, the Indonesian and Chinese
Taipei players team up together for doubles matches -- Wynne with
Lee and Angie with Su Wei.
"With them playing together in the doubles, they must already
know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Now it is up to who
is more prepared for the battle," Benny said.
Benny said that South Korea and New Zealand could also prove
to be stumbling blocks for Indonesia.
South Korea is fielding Cho Yoon-jeong, ranked 116, and Jeon
Mi-ra (252), while New Zealand is depending on Shelley Stephens
(276) and Leanne Baker (399).