Teenage players set up Masters final showdown
Teenage players set up Masters final showdown
JAKARTA (JP): Teenage players highlighted the Indonesia
Masters tennis championships yesterday as Enny Sulistyowati and
Wukirasih Sawondari set up the women's singles final, a reminder
of their clash in the Indonesia Junior Masters final last year.
Enny, currently national number seven, maintained her winning
track in yesterday's last round-robin match in Group B when old-
crack Irawati Moerid gave up her match due to stomach problems.
Enny, who just needed one set to secure her final berth, lost 2-6
in the opening set but fought back to take the second set 7-5.
Irawati left the court when the deciding set was about to start.
"It's nice to reach the final. Maybe I won't get a second
chance if I had of missed this one," said 14-year-old Enny, who
hails from Sukoharjo, a small town in Central Java.
The Indonesian Tennis Association omitted the cross-over
semifinals this year, allowing winners of each group to meet in
the finals.
World number 29, and Indonesia's best player, Yayuk Basuki,
Romana Tedjakusuma and Natalia Soetrisno, national number two and
three respectively, skipped the season-ending tournament.
Smarting from the first set defeat, Enny took the initiative
with her superb combination of serve and volley which had
25-year-old Irawati running throughout the second set. Enny
drilled her crosscourts to break Irawati's serve in the 12th
game.
In the Group A top-of-the-table match, Wukirasih saved a match
point to upset Agustine Limanto 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 in a
battle of lobs lasting two hours.
Agustine raced to a match point when she held the serve at 5-
4. However, she missed the most crucial point as she lobbed wide
her backhand return which cost her a broken serve. Frustrated-
looking Agustine could not keep cool, while Wukirasih found her
rhythm to easily take the tiebreaker and the deciding set.
Enny last met Wukirasih in the Indonesia Junior Masters final
last year, with Enny surviving a marathon four-hour match.
The upset continued in the men's singles when Dony Susetyo
snapped four straight losses to Suwandi with a 3-6, 4-6, 4-6 win
in a service breaking play lasting more than two hours to advance
to the final.
Dony will now face national number three Eddy Kusdaryanto who
took the advantage of Sulistyo Wibowo's retirement due to
illness. Sulistyo was 0-6 down and trailed 1-4 when he opted to
leave the court. Both Dony and Eddy will make their first finals
appearance.
Dony displayed his best serve-and-volley tennis, keeping the
charges to the net to stop Suwandi's powerful passing shots.
Defending champion Suwandi lost his determination -- and his
hopes to walk away with the winner's check of Rp 4.5 million
(US$2,000) -- when he dropped his fourth game of the match at 2-2
in the deciding set.
"I played it safe today. I just tried to hit every return for
points since I knew Suwandi had run out of steam," Dony said.
(amd)