Prima to face Suzuki first up in Davis Cup

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Prima Simpatiaji was on Wednesday handed the chance to steal a point from Japan in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone World Group I first round when he was drawn to face visiting No. 1 Takao Suzuki in the opening singles match here on Friday.

Prima's match will be followed by a tie between Indonesia No. 1 Febi Widhiyanto against Gouichi Motomura (ATP ranking 262), Tennis Association of Indonesia (Pelti) deputy secretary-general August Ferry Raturandang told The Jakarta Post after the draw.

There were no surprises in Wednesday's official draw with the Japanese leaving Takahiro Terachi to partner U.S.-born Thomas Shimada in Saturday's pivotal doubles against the home team's Suwandi and Hendri Susilo Pramono.

At this stage, Sunday's reverse singles will feature Prima (697) against Motomura and Febi (547) against Suzuki, currently ranked 205 in the world.

The Japanese team is groomed by Australian Bob Brett, a former coach for Boris Becker, Goran Ivanisevic and Nicolas Kiefer, while the home squad is handled by Tintus Arianto Wibowo, who is also the nonplaying captain of the team.

Tintus was a member of the country's Davis Cup team 21 years ago, when Indonesia defeated Japan 4-1 at Senayan Gelora Bung Karno sports complex. However, since 1969, Indonesia has not won any of the subsequent five encounters.

The Davis Cup match will take place from Feb. 6 through Feb. 8 at Senayan Tennis Courts in Jakarta. The event will be open to the public, with tickets costing Rp 20,000 (US$2.35). The Friday match is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

Wednesday's draw was followed by an official welcoming party for the Japanese squad, which arrived on Sunday. The party featured local movie starlet Dian Sastro presenting both teams with Davis Cup watches from Fossil.