Indonesia, Thailand post easy victories in Federation Cup
Indonesia, Thailand post easy victories in Federation Cup
Agence France-Presse, Tokyo
Angelique "Angie" Widjaja and Tamarine Tanasugarn posted easy singles wins to give their countries second straight wins in the Federation Cup tennis Asia-Oceania zone Group One preliminary round on Tuesday.
Angie whitewashed Karina Jarlkaganova 6-0, 6-0 to add to Wynne Adiati Prakusya's 6-1, 6-0 win over Marina Shpak for Indonesia before the two joined hands to win the doubles 6-2, 6-1.
Tamarine, who defeated one of the toughest opponents here in 1999 Wimbledon junior champion Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan Monday, wasted no time in beating Liaw Chen-Yee 6-1, 6-2 as fourth seed Thailand defeated Malaysia.
Earlier in the day, Suchanun Viratprasert downed Taufek Norzafirah 6-0, 6-1 in the opener for Thailand. And Tamarine was 6-0, 6-0 winners with Napaporn Tongsalee in the doubles.
Indonesia and Thailand will face each other Wednesday in the six-team Pool B round robin competition.
"It will be a tough match tomorrow," Angie said of her encounter against Tamarine. "I played her twice and it's one all and both are three sets, so I need to practice like yesterday (Monday) and today (Tuesday) for tomorrow."
"I play for the team, I play not only for me. Mentally, it's like I feel more pressure. On the tour, it's only for me, for my family, or for my sponsor, but now it's for all the Indonesian people."
Tamarine said she had not thought about the match against Angie yet, saying: "We both know each other, how we're gonna play. I just go out there and play my game. We'll see tomorrow."
Suchanun, who played an excellent game against Uzbekistan's Ivanna Israilova although she was beaten on Monday, will challenge Wynne in the opener on Wednesday. She surrendered to Wynne in three sets in the 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, third seed China became the first team in five- nation Pool A to secure a second straight win, with Sun Tiantian beating Kristen Godridge and Jie Zheng beating Cindy Lee Si-nga, both by 6-0, 6-1.
China defeated Hong Kong 3-0 with Jie and Yan Zi adding the doubles victory by 6-2, 6-0.
Top seed Japan also notched up a second straight win when Saori Obata and Shinobu Asagoe defeated Eden Marama 6-1, 6-4 and Leanne Baker 6-0, 6-0, respectively, to beat New Zealand.
Obata, who then teamed up with Ai Sugiyama, defeated Ilke Gers and Marama 6-0, 6-1 for a 3-0 sweep.