Indonesia to keep Davis Cup lineup

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will maintain its winning team for its Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group II second-round tie against the Philippines here in April.

Chairman of the Indonesian Tennis Association Tanri Abeng, speaking to reporters after welcoming the players home from a victorious opening tie in Doha, said it would be impossible to change the lineup with less than two months before the match.

"This is our dream team and we will maintain it. With young players making up the backbone, I think we can hope for a bright future in tennis," said Tanri, who is the state minister of the empowerment of state enterprises.

The national team of Suwandi, Febi Widhiyanto, Edy Kusdaryanto and Hendri Susilo Pramono routed host Qatar 5-0 over the weekend.

After the players left the aircraft, a luxury purple VW Caravelle van picked them up and transported them to the VIP room of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

The team showed no sign of fatigue after hours on the flight, and coach Dedy Prasetyo said he would give his charges a mere two-day break before they resumed their workouts for the April 2 to April 4 tie. The winner will play in the eight-team Asia Oceania Group I next season.

Dedy predicted tougher opposition from the Philippines, which overcame Chinese Taipei 3-2 in its first-round match.

"We must be well prepared for the match. We will warm up for the Davis Cup match by competing in two satellite tournaments in the Philippines."

The tournaments run from March 1 to March 14.

The Philippines will likely bank again on Joseph Lizardo, Bryan Juinio and Michael Misa. Dedy said Lizardo was the only player to watch.

He said Indonesia would opt for a fast court surface because "the Filipinos are more used to playing on slow clay courts than hard courts".

He believed the Kemayoran tennis court in Central Jakarta would be the best choice. (yan)