Two matches down, RI faces tough task
Two matches down, RI faces tough task
Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia is two matches down after the opening day of the Fed
Cup play-off against Germany on Saturday, and now faces the
difficult task of turning around the tables on Sunday.
Angelique 'Angie' Widjaja and Wynne Prakusya took to the court
brimming with confidence, only to end the day in disappointment,
on the losing side, with 4,000 home fans watching from inside the
Senayan tennis stadium.
Both Indonesian stars -- whose preference of court has
brought about a facelift to the stadium's surface, from a
claycourt to hardcourt -- failed to hang on against the Germans.
Wynne (120th in WTA rankings) lost 6-4, 0-6, 4-6 to Anca Barna
(62) and Angie (70) went down at 4-6, 1-6 to Barbara Rittner
(89).
Germany's non-playing captain, Klaus Eberhard, applauded the
team's performance saying that his proteges had played tremendous
games.
While giving compliments to the Indonesian players, Eberhard
was positive about going into the second day of competition on
Sunday.
"Both Wynne and Angie played well, but my players were just a
bit better today. This should give us confidence tomorrow," he
said.
Another two singles will be played in the reverse order, with
Angie and Barna playing in the first, followed by the Wynne-
Rittner game. Angie will then team up with Wynne to face Vanessa
Henke (218) and Angelika Roesch (107) in the doubles to end the
day.
On Saturday, Wynne had a good start in the afternoon match-up
giving home crowds hope with a first set win of 6-4 over Barna.
However, the Indonesian was then blanked 0-6 in the second
set.
Barna continued her mounting attack with the second set
running 3-0. After allowing Wynne to break in the fourth game,
the German pulled back to enjoy a comfortable 5-1 lead.
Wynne fought back and reduced the deficit to make 4-5, only to
let Barna cruise through to victory.
The home fans turned their expectations to Angie but she
failed to come up to scratch with a below-par performance against
Rittner in the one-hour match.
Rittner appeared too strong for Angie. The German displayed an
almost flawless game throughout while the 18-year-old Indonesian
stumbled in a flurry of errors.
Angie admitted that she had sometimes been hasty during the
game, overwhelmed by the ambition to give the team a point after
Wynne fell in the first effort.
"I felt so impatient (to win a point) that I made so many
errors," she said.
She tried to remain optimistic and said: "We still have
tomorrow. I will try to be more relaxed and make the best of it."