Indonesia pummels Puerto Rico in Fed Cup

Indonesia pummels Puerto Rico in Fed Cup

Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's Fed Cup squad triumphed over higher ranked Puerto
Rico in an away tie on Sunday, completing a quartet of Asian
winners in the World Group II playoffs.

While most of their compatriots were asleep in the early hours
of Sunday, the team of Wynne Prakusya, Romana Tedjakusuma and Ayu
Fani Damayanti swept to a 4-1 victory in the coastal town of
Salinas.

Thailand, Japan and China had won their World Group II
playoffs by identical 4-1 scores at home.

Without injured national number one Angie Widjaja, the team
silenced doubters who said they would be unable to overcome
Puerto Rico, fielding world number 68 Kristina Brandi.

Former world top 20 player Yayuk Basuki said the victory
showed the rise of Asian women's tennis and that the mental side
of the game mattered most in team competitions.

"We went there without great expectations, without Angie and
just expecting to do our best, while the Puerto Ricans were
playing in front of their home crowd with all the pressure on
them," Yayuk said on Monday.

"If Puerto Rico had played here, they probably would have done
better."

Wynne played a key role in the victory. After the teams ended
Saturday's first day tied 1-1, the Surakartan, ranked 388 on the
WTA Tour, took to the court against Brandi on Sunday.

With the temperature nearing 37 degrees Celsius, Brandi went
down 2-5 with a string of unforced errors.

"I was surprised because I knew that she is a player who
doesn't commit many errors and is very accurate," Wynne, 24, was
quoted as saying by Puerto Rican Spanish-language daily El Nuevo
Dia on its website www.endi.com.

"I tried to make her rally and not commit many errors myself."

Brandi, 28, won two games in a row to reach 4-5, but Wynne
held serve to take the set.

In the second set, with her opponent still unable to find her
range, Wynne reached 4-0 and 5-2. Brandi, complaining of stomach
cramps, took a five-minute bathroom break.

It did not help, and she lost the match 4-6, 2-6.

Veteran Romana Tedjakusuma then sealed the victory. Although
ranked 501 to Vilmarie Castellvi's 168, Romana won 6-2, 6-2.

Romana, who turns 30 on July 24, lived up to the expectations
of nonplaying captain Suzanna Anggarkusuma, who chose her over
16-year-old Ayu.

Wynne and Ayu combined to take the meaningless fifth doubles
match 6-2, 6-0 over Castellvi and Jessica Roland.

With her Puerto Rico victories, Wynne surpassed Yayuk's
records for total wins (60), singles wins (31) and doubles wins
(31) for an Indonesian player since the country began competing
in the then Federation Cup in 1969.