Injury-humbled Angie expects

Injury-humbled Angie expects
to bounce back in 2005

Eva C. Komandjaja
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Top women's tennis player Angelique 'Angie' Widjaja's blamed
recurrent injuries for her dismal run this year but said
successful knee surgery had boosted her hopes for a comeback in
2005.

After turning pro in 1998, Angie quickly played her way into
the country's top tennis spot and then proved she could take on
the world, deservedly staking her claim as the successor to
former Indonesian international Yayuk Basuki.

The 18-year-old all-court player from Bandung, West Java,
first stepped into the international tennis spotlight by
snatching the Wimbeldon junior singles title in 2001, and then
making off with another junior singles title a year later at the
French Open.

She has also collected two Women's Tennis Association (WTA)
titles -- as 2001 Wismilak Open champion in Bali and the 2002
Volvo Open champ in Pattaya, Thailand.

Under the coaching of local trainer Deddy Tedjamukti, Angie
reached a career-best 55 in the WTA rankings, but the 2004 season
saw her crash in early stages in as many tournaments and, as a
result, her ranking dropped to a low of 132.

Yayuk, who was able to break into top 20 during her heyday,
said that if Angie was satisfied with merely making it into the
top 50 in the world, she should stay with present coach. However,
a foreign coach was imperative if she wanted to join the tennis
elite, Yayuk said.

Starting this year with high hopes, Angie had to exit early on
after losing to Switzerland's Patty Schnyder in the first round
of the Australian Open, one of the four prestigious Grand Slam
tournaments.

She upped her the challenge in the next tournament by
advancing to the quarterfinals in Hyderabad, India, in February
before falling to a string of early exits in the following
tournaments.

She signed up for Birmingham WTA and then Wimbledon where she
won the junior title in 2001 only to find out she hadn't made it
into the qualifying rounds.

Her Olympic campaign was dashed in the early stages, crashing
to Croatia's Karolina Sprem in the singles. And her doubles run
with Wynne ended similarly, the Indonesian pair going down in
flames to Sprem and Jelena Kostanic.

After yet another first-round shutout at the U.S. Open, Angie
looked to the Bali Wismilak International, a WTA tier III
tournament that earned her a title in 2001.

And here at least, she was partially redeemed. However, while
the support from local fans was distinctly strong, competition on
the court proved stronger. But Angie did manage to take a few
large scalps before she was edged out by eventual champion
Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the quarterfinals.

Admitting she was humbled by the recurrent tendon injury she
sustained at end of 2003, Angie decided to take a lengthy layoff,
fearing the muscle tear had been worsened by blood clots caused
by playing.

It was a successful surgery in Australia and Angie looks ahead
with optimism.

"I am optimistic that I can fully recover from the injury and
get back in shape for next year's tournaments," Angie said.

Angie's poor run this year was redeemed by an inspirational
performance that steered the women's team, consisting of Angie,
Wynne Prakusya, Sandy Gumulya and Septi Mende, to the Fed Cup's
World Group II playoff, with a 4-1 victory over Slovenia.

The victory rounded off an undefeated record for Indonesia,
which took out Uzbekistan, Taiwan, India, South Korea and New
Zealand in the preceding Asia-Oceania Group matches.

The Slovenia rout came in the wake of the men's team's success
-- comprising Febi Widhiyanto, Prima Simpatiaji, Suwandi, Bonit
Wiryawan and Hendri Susilo Pramono -- in trouncing New Zealand 5-
0 in the Davis Cup's Asia-Oceania Group I playoff.

While delighted by the team's victories, the Indonesian
National Tennis association (Pelti) later received a slap in the
face by a rebellion led by the country's top players.

Indonesia men's No 1 Febi Widhiyanto, Prima Simpatiaji, and
young star Septi Mende refused to join the Indonesia Awakens (IA)
sports program, currently grooming the country's best athletes
for Indonesia's medal challenge at the 2006 Asian Games.

The defectors said they were not happy with the trainers Pelti
had assigned to the tennis team and their boycott is likely to
disrupt Indonesia's tennis campaign at the SEA Games in 2005.

The campaign is grooming plenty of new blood Indonesia can pin
its hopes on in the future, including possible Angie-successors
Septi, Ayu Fani Damayanti, Sandy Gumulya; and young men's players
Sunu Wahyu Trijati, Sandi Purnomo, Ayrtan Wibowo and Agung Bagus.

However, observers say a condusive domestic atmosphere must be
created if Indonesia is to make the best of its young hopefuls.