Slumping Angie to employ Aussie physical trainer

Slumping Angie to employ Aussie physical trainer

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta

Angelique Widjaja, Indonesia's top-ranked tennis player, will
employ an Australian physical trainer to help her improve her
game.

The 20-year-old tennis player has been injury-prone of late
and hopes improving her fitness will allow her to avoid further
problems.

She suffered a left knee injury during the Volvo Master's
tournament last November, and has been dealing with a nagging
ankle injury that she first received at the Qatar Open in
February this year.

The injuries have been blamed for a string of poor
performances by Angie, whose world ranking has plummeted from
55th in March 2003 to 134th in June 2004.

Angie steered Indonesia to the World Group of the Fed Cup with
a 4-1 win over Slovenia in a playoff last week.

The planned arrival of Australian Machr Reid in October is
expected to help Angie overhaul her physical fitness.

"I really need a physical trainer right now because my muscles
still feel numb due to the injuries. It's difficult to play in
this condition," she said here on Wednesday.

Angie's manager Virginia Rusli said Reid had agreed to a one-
year contract that will begin in October.

"I would rather Reid started the workouts before the Olympic
Games in August in order to help Angie prepare for the Games, but
both have very busy schedules so we decided to start in October,"
Virginia said.

It will be their second partnership following a brief spell
together in 2001, during which Angie won the junior title at
Wimbledon.

According to Virginia, Reid has prepared a 10 to 12-week
physical training program for Angie.

"Angie will undergo the first six weeks of training in
Australia before finishing the rest of the program adjusted to
her schedule," she said.