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.