Romana no shot in the dark for Games tennis

JAKARTA (JP): Absent from national and international tennis events for three years, Romana Tedjakusuma wants to make a golden return to the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam.

"I'm glad I can join the SEA Games team after competing in the national selection. I have proven that I am still good and I don't want to spoil my chances," she said.

Her steady baseline game kept her unbeaten in six matches during the selection.

Born in Surabaya on July 24, 1976, she won the individual title at the 1993 SEA Games in Singapore by defeating Evangeline Olivarez.

In the absence of top Thai player Tamarine Tanasugarn, who is skipping the Games in a bid to improve her world ranking, Romana, once the second best player in Indonesia after Yayuk Basuki, is looking to return to top form.

Despite her long absence from the international circuit, she is upbeat about her chances.

"Anything can happen on the court. I'll just try my best," she said.

Romana's last international match was in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, when she reached the women's doubles quarterfinals with Yayuk. They lost to Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova of the Czech Republic.

She then concentrated on her major in mathematics at Nicholls State University in Louisiana. She will graduate after two more semesters.

The youngest of two children of Albert Tedjakusuma and Henny Nongoi, Romana tried to maintain her form during college by playing on campus and in the NCAA.

"Before returning home, I only reached the first round of the main draw in the Little Rock tournament and managed to get to the quarterfinals of a tournament at Hilton Head," she said.

Along with then top Indonesian player Yayuk, Romana showed great promise with exceptional results in 1993 and 1994. She won several tournaments, including the Brunei satellite and ITF Future Circuit event in Bangkok, and became a familiar name to Indonesian tennis fans.

Her best performance was at the 1994 Australian Open where she reached the third round before losing to top 10 player Manuela Maleeva.

"This year I'm the most senior member of the team. The responsibility is automatically on my shoulders."

Romana, who loves to read and watch movies, said she was unsure if tennis would remain part of her future.

"We'll see after I finish school. I'm not even sure if I want to qualify for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Let's wait and see." (yan)