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)