Italy routs Indonesia 5-0 in Fed Cup Group 2

Italy routs Indonesia 5-0 in Fed Cup Group 2

By Bruce Emond

JAKARTA (JP): Italy raced to a 5-0 drubbing of Indonesia in
the Fed Cup World Group 2 playoff yesterday at the Senayan Tennis
Stadium here.

In the opening reverse singles match, Italian number one
Silvia Farina gave her team an unbeatable 3-0 lead with a
straightforward 6-1, 6-4 dispatching of Indonesia's Wynne
Prakusya, playing in the number one position for the host in the
absence of Indonesian number one Yayuk Basuki.

Flora Perfetti then defeated Wukirasih Sawondari 6-4, 6-1.
Gloria Pizzichini and Francesca Lubiani paired up to beat Liza
Andriyani and Enny Sulistyowati 6-1, 6-2 to complete the rout.

Italy will play in the main World Group II next year.
Indonesia is now relegated to the regional qualifying
competition.

The score underlined the Italians' clay court skills and their
greater experience in important events. But it did not reflect
the young Indonesian team's gutsy efforts and missed chances.

The tie hinged on Wynne's match against Farina. The Italian's
weight of shot and deep placements proved too strong for the
Indonesian in the scrappy and error-filled first set.

Farina appeared on her way to an easy win when she won 10
points in a row for the first set and then broke Wynne's serve in
the opening game of the second. But in a long game of several
deuces, Wynne finally broke back. She saved two break points in
the next game with some brilliantly crafted shotmaking to put the
match back on serve.

There were flashes of Wynne's famed forehand drive in the next
few games as she had Farina, ranked 42nd in the Women's Tennis
Association rankings, scurrying around the baseline.

But Farina's patient retrieving also exposed the weakness of
the shot, which is hit with a pronounced Western grip and
carries little margin for error as it is hit almost entirely
flat. Too often a sizzling forehand drive was followed by a
rushed return which sailed long or landed in the bottom of the
net.

The second set continued on serve until 4-4. Wynne, visibly
tiring after her long three-set defeat to Perfetti Saturday,
served a double fault to give Farina break point. The Italian
converted with a delicate drop shot which left the exhausted
Indonesian stranded at the baseline.

Wynne's fight was not over. Berating herself with a shout of
"sabar (be patient)", she held two break points before Farina
switched into higher gear and reached match points. Wynne saved
the first with a pounding forehand return down the line, but hit
the ball long on the next to give Italy the victory.

Italy opened up a 2-0 lead Saturday when Farina beat Wukira 6-
2, 6-4 and Perfetti scraped by Wynne 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1.
Perfetti won despite woeful serving which included three
consecutive double faults in one game alone.

All square

Italy's win made the two countries all-square in Fed Cup
competition as Indonesia won their only other meeting in Italy in
1995. Indonesia was helped in that win by Yayuk Basuki, currently
ranked 22 in world and a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon earlier
this month.

Yayuk was scratched from the Fed Cup squad last month after
reports that her husband Suharyadi, the non-playing captain for
the team, had requested the International Tennis Federation (ITF)
change the venue from clay to Rebound Ace hard courts.

The Indonesian Tennis Association (PELTI), charging that
Suharyadi had behaved inappropriately by contacting the ITF
directly, replaced him with Atet Wiyono. Yayuk was later invited
to play for the team, but PELTI announced last week that she had
decided instead to concentrate on her improving her ranking.