S. Korea routs Indonesia in Davis Cup clash
S. Korea routs Indonesia in Davis Cup clash
JAKARTA (JP): South Korea lived up to its prematch boast in its Davis Cup Asia Oceania outing here when it swept two reverse singles for a historical 4-1 rout of Indonesia yesterday.
University Games silver medalist Lee Hyung-taik sealed Indonesia's fate when he clawed back from a first set down to grind out Suwandi 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.
The victory put South Korea in an unbeatable 3-1 lead, before Yoon Yong-il completed the steamrolling with a hard-earned 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) win over Andrian Raturandang in the dead rubber.
South Korea swept the first day's two singles on Friday, but Indonesia took the rain delayed doubles on Sunday.
The South Koreans will now play New Zealand at home for a place in the World Group qualifying round in April. Indonesia looks certain to be granted the choice of ground in its Asia Oceania play-off against China, also in April.
"We are very proud to break our jinx here, but we did not expect to win that convincingly," South Korean non-playing captain Jeon Hyung-dai said in the post-match press conference.
Indonesia and South Korea had previously met eight times, with each of them winning its four home matches but crashing out in the four outings.
Jeon said after his doubles team's loss on Sunday that he relied on Yoon to clinch the tie. But Jeon did not need to wait that long.
Smarting from a first-set defeat, Lee shrugged off his stomachache to pile on his big serves and strokes that kept Suwandi running. A clearly out-of-form Suwandi tried to slow the pace, only to find his slices failed to clear the net.
Suwandi displayed a brief recovery when broke Lee to level the tie at 3-3 in the third set. The 19-year-old Indonesian, however, came back to his old erratic play, hitting every return to let the South Korean take the set.
The final set was a carbon copy of the third, with Suwandi losing his feet just after handing Lee a break.
Suwandi gave his stiffest opposition by saving five match points, but it came too late. Lee closed the match after Suwandi netted a forehand return.
"I was surprised to see Suwandi drop his form so quickly that Hyung-taik easily kept up the pressures," Jeon said after the match.
Jeon reserved his compliments for Andrian who managed to match Yoon stroke for stroke and blamed his player for being over- confident. Yoon tallied his double faults to seven, compared to Andrian's one.
"Andrian was Indonesia's best today, but unfortunately he lacks experience," Jeon said.
Playing before tenacious cheers from the home crowd, an agile Adrian came closer to a surprising win when he served for the match at 5-4 in the deciding set. The Davis Cup debutant, however, slowed his pace and opted to strongly defend from his baseline.
Yoon capitalized on a nervous Andrian in the critical game, coming charging to the net for a number of volley winners that cost Andrian the face-saving victory.
Yoon quickly raced to the match point in the tiebreaker, thanks to unforced errors drilled by Andrian. The 19-year-old Indonesian produced a late comeback to narrow his deficit, but fired his overhead lob wide to seal the match. (amd)