RI gets 'lucky' draw against Puerto Rico in Fed Cup
RI gets 'lucky' draw against Puerto Rico in Fed Cup
The Jakarta Post/Agencies, Jakarta/Rome
Indonesia could have played some of the top teams in Asia, but instead it will face Puerto Rico in an away tie in the Fed Cup World Group II playoffs in July, according to the draw made in London on Tuesday.
Former world top 20 player Yayuk Basuki said Indonesia "got lucky", for other countries in the Group II playoffs, such as China, Japan, Thailand and the Slovak Republic, would prove tougher opponents.
"This is a good opportunity to beat them. The best known player they have is Kristina Brandi (ranked 86), who does not play a very aggressive game and she's been injured a lot, too."
Yayuk said she believed the Puerto Ricans would probably choose to play the July 9-10 tie on clay to give them a better chance against the visitors.
Puerto Rico advanced to World Group II from the Americas Zonal Group, beating Canada, in late April. Indonesia lost 1-4 to Germany.
Number one singles player Angelique "Angie" Widjaja, who is recovering from a knee injury that kept her out of the German tie, said all teams were tough.
"We can't take them lightly," Angie said by telephone last night. "I know who Brandi is, but I've never played her in singles ... It have been better to play them here, but we will have to see."
She added that she hoped to be fit for the tie, "but it will be up to my doctor if he gives his permission".
In other matches, Japan will play Bulgaria, Thailand the Slovak Republic and China takes on Slovenia.
Winners secure a place in the 2006 World Group II, losers to compete in Zonal Group I.
Meanwhile, in Berlin, Daniela Hantuchova, the former world number five who is fighting her way back after a two-year dip brought on by weight problems and personal difficulties, is still finding it hard to break the top 20 barrier.
She failed to get past the first hurdle at the German Open on Tuesday, losing 6-4, 6-4 to Gisela Dulko, the rising 20-year-old from Buenos Aires who reached her first WTA Tour final at the start of the year.
The Argentine's success was based around a solid first serve and a heavy forehand follow-up, and by capitalizing on the psychological advantage of her first breakthrough.
That was nicely timed for the penultimate game of the first set, and after closing it out without fuss, Dulko profited from 15th seeded Hantuchova's disappointment to break serve again, with the Slovaken concluding it with a double fault.
Hantuchova played better again after that, but took a few more risks to try to reduce Dulko's attacking options which resulted in her error ratio increasing.
Dulko earned herself a meeting with Conchita Martinez, the former Wimbledon champion and past titleholder here, who is still able to provide a sticky test for the younger generation despite being the oldest singles player on the WTA Tour at the age of 33.
Soon afterwards another seed went out, Nathalie Dechy, the number nine from France, going down with surprising rapidity to Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar.
Randriantefy, who broke the top 50 for the first time last month, is playing the most consistent tennis of her career, and was too steady for an erratic Dechy who fell away limply in the second set of a 7-5, 6-1 defeat.
The upsets mean that a total of four seeds have gone out of the German Open, with Ai Suiyama, the number 14 from Japan, and Karolina Sprem, the number 16 from Croatia, falling on Monday.