Romana boosts RI's Fed Cup hopes

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's number two tennis player Romana Tedjakusuma returned home yesterday to give her country a boost ahead of its Federation Cup Group One first round match against Belgium here this weekend.

Romana, whose Fed Cup appearance was in doubt owing to her college commitments in Louisiana, U.S., is expected to join the team today despite suffering from jet-lag.

Indonesian non-playing captain Suharyadi said after a training session yesterday that he is considering giving his 19-year-old player a shot in the doubles match during the Fed Cup duel slated for April 27 and 28.

"She will need three or four days to fully recover, meaning that the very short time left before the Fed Cup will enable her only to concentrate on playing doubles," Suharyadi said.

In a Fed Cup match, the doubles match is played after two singles and two reverse singles matches and usually serves as the deciding rubber.

Romana, missing from the World Tennis Association tour for the whole season last year, now looks certain to team up with world number 33 Yayuk Basuki. The duo triumphed in the Asian Championships last year and in previous Fed Cup matches, Indonesia has relied on them to see the team through to the next round.

Indonesia has named two juniors, Liza Andriyani and Wynne Praskusya, to back up Yayuk and Romana against the Belgian challenge.

"Both Wynne and Liza have chances of becoming the second choice of singles player after Yayuk," said Suharyadi, who is also Yayuk's coach and husband.

Yayuk, still battling with a cough, joined the workout yesterday, but Liza made an early exit after complaining of a headache.

The Belgian quartet of Sabine Appelmans, Laurence Courtois, Nancy Feber and Dominique van Roost, also arrived here yesterday.

Belgian non-playing captain Steven Martin admitted yesterday that his side is by no means guaranteed victory over the host team. "When you step onto the court, you deal with many non- technical matters as well," he said.

Belgium, bidding to climb back to the World Group, is fielding its aces against Indonesia, and sees Yayuk as the only real jeopardy.

The winner of this weekend's tie will meet a loser from the World Group matches, scheduled for July 8 and 9, while at the same time the loser takes on a fellow Group One loser in a playoff. (amd)