RI books a berth in men's singles final
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Suwandi is up against compatriot Hendri Susilo Pramono for a place in the men's singles final of the Extra Joss Future-4 tennis championships at the Kemayoran tennis center.
Suwandi outclassed Lee Seung-hun of South Korea 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) in Thursday's quarterfinals to set up a semifinal clash with Hendri, who survived a hard quarterfinal, beating Marian Leysek of Slovakia 7-5, 6-4.
The other semifinal will feature top seed Danai Udomchoke of Thailand and Park Seung-kyu of South Korea.
Udomchoke enjoyed an easy win over Leigh Holland of Australia 6-1, 6-2, while Park beat sixth seed Rik De Voest of South Africa 6-4, 6-3.
In the men's doubles quarterfinals, the Indonesian duo of Yusmawan Fahmi and Edo Bawono beat Marcel Du Coudray of Mauritius and Wilem Petr Meyer of South Africa 6-2, 6-1
On Friday, the Indonesian pair will meet fifth seeds Alan Mackin and Luben Pampoulov of Austria. The Austrians beat the Indian pairing of Mustafa Ghouse and Manoj Mahadevan 6-4, 7-5.
In the other semifinal match, Hendri, partnering Febi Widhiyanto, will play the experienced Indonesian pairing of Bonit Wiryawan and Sulistyo Wibowo.
Speaking on his chances in the men's semis, Hendri said he had prepared a strategy to beat Suwandi, who he lost to in the final of the National Games in Surabaya last month.
"We are playing on a fast surface so I will have to play better at the net rather than rallying from the baseline. I forced him to rally at the Games in Surabaya and I lost. But the court was not as fast as it is here," he said.
In previous encounters, each player has beaten the other twice.
He said that reaching the semifinals was his best achievement in the four Future tournaments this year.
He was also planning to give Bonit and Sulistyo a hard time in the doubles, remembering his and Febi's defeat at their hands in last week's Future-3 final.
"We don't want to lose to them all the time. We want to win, and we have learned from our experience," he said. (ivy)