Surya awarded win as top three march to Cigna semifinals
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Top national players dominated the US$11,800 Cigna Open tennis tournament as they advanced to the semifinals after Friday's quarterfinals at the Jakarta Hilton International Executive Club.
Saturday's semifinals will see top seed Hendri Susilo Pramono challenged by third seed Sebastian Dacosta, and a match between second seed Suwandi and Surya Wijaya.
Surya, who is seeded fourteenth, booked his ticket to the last four without breaking sweat after seventh seed and veteran Sulistyo Wibowo was forced out by a shoulder injury to hand Suryo victory by default.
Hendri had to work hard only in the second set in his 6-1, 7-5 win over sixth seed Eko Kurniawan 6-1, 7-5. Suwandi faced little challenge in defeating Suhendardinata 6-3, 6-1.
Friday's pairings saw an interesting match between veteran Bonit Wiryawan and Sebastian, with the latter winning 6-4, 6-4 in one hour 45 minutes.
In the women's singles, top seed Wukirasih Sawondari marched into the next stage after she outplayed eighth seed Novianti Warsono 6-1, 6-2.
She will take on third seed Eny Sulistyowati, who beat Lavinia Tananta 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, in the quarters.
The other semifinal match will pit second seed Ayu Fani Damayanti against non-seeded Febri Joana.
Meanwhile, in the men's competition, 36-year-old Bonit showed that he could still pose tough opposition against his ten-years- younger rival with them winning on serve alternately in the first five games of the first set.
However, Sebastian broke Bonit's serve in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead before making another to seal the set 6-4.
Bonit put up a fiercer fight in the second set as he dashed to a 3-1 lead, but Sebastian managed to catch up to even the score at 3-3. After allowing another game in the eighth, Sebastian wrapped up the game with a 6-4 win.
Bonit then complained about his increasing age and being rusty having an adverse impact on his play.
"The age margin is disadvantageous to me and I have not been practicing as regularly as before for a couple of years," he told The Jakarta Post.
He added that a few years ago he used to win nine out ten matches against Sebastian.
Being able to get as far as the quarterfinals might signal that he still had fire in his belly. His comment provided a wider view on national tennis, saying that his ability to get that far in the tournament indicated that the regeneration was still lagging behind.
Earlier in the second round, Indonesia's future hope, 17-year old Sunu Wahyu Trijati, was outplayed by 39-year-old veteran Tjahjono 3-6, 2-6.
Other young players, the twin brothers Immanuel Prakoso and Immanuel Prabowo also exited in the early stages.
"The young players need more intensive training and more tournaments if we want to tackle the generation problem in less than two years," Bonit said.
Sunu appeared to be aware of his undeveloped talent, saying that he was not as yet a match for Tjahjono, let alone Suwandi and Hendri, a problem he put down to a lack of competing in high- level tournaments.
"I may be able to excel in the juniors, but I still find it hard to get through in the seniors," he said, adding that the young players tend to show power play while experienced players combine tactics and positioning.