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.