Van Roost wins Wismilak tennis
SURABAYA (JP): Top seeded favorite Dominique van Roost of Belgium defeated non-seeded Lenka Nemeckova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 in an anticlimax match yesterday at the 1997 Wismilak International Women's tennis tournament at the Embong Sawo tennis complex.
In the doubles, second seeded Kerry-Anne Guse (USA)/Rika Hiraki (Japan) beat Maureen Drake/Renata Kolbovic of Canada 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) to win first prize.
Guse/Hiraki beat Nathalie Dechy and Sara Pitkowski of France 7-6 (8-6), 0-6, 6-2 late Saturday.
Van Roost pocketed US$31,860 and received a plate, trophy and a bouquet. Runner-up Nemeckova received $15,030, a plate and a bouquet.
The doubles winner received $10,548 and the runner-up received $6,192.
In the 65-minute match, the 24-year-old van Roost put pressure on Nemeckova with her backhand shots. Both players played from the baseline with a rare volley before the net.
In the first set, the 28 world ranked van Roost started shakingly and lost 0-1 before she fought back, causing her opponent to make many unforced errors including three double faults. Van Roost won the set 6-1.
In the second set, van Roost led 2-0 before Nemeckova equaled 2-2. Both players kept the pressure on each other to score an equal 3-3. But van Roost became more aggressive to lead 5-3.
The 21-year-old Nemeckova failed to take advantage of her serve, letting the Belgium break her serve to win 6-3.
About 1,000 rowdy spectators packed the stadium, forcing Van Roost to ask umpire Ales Yeo to silence their enthusiasm.
The new champion van Roost gave her victory speech in Indonesian, saying: Terima kasih kepada para sponsor, penonton dan ball boys." (Thank you to the sponsor, spectators and ball boys.)
The crowd cheered her speech and applauded the winner.
When Nemeckova thanked her coach for supporting her, van Roost took another chance to thank her husband and coach, apologizing for forgetting them.
Aggressive
"I really had many chances to win points but Dominique played more aggressively. I'm not disappointed with the match because it's my first final in a WTA event," Nemeckova, world ranked 106, told a post-match conference.
"I think I'll come here next year," said the Czech, who will compete in the satellite and challenger tournaments in the USA in two weeks time.
Van Roost said: "I was nervous in the beginning. After the first game I played better. Sometimes I was up and down as was she (Nemeckova). I played more consistently and she made many errors.
"Although she played better in the second set, she started to miss the ball again."
Van Roost denied that she had an easy win, saying: "It was not easy because in every game the score was very tight."
It was van Roost's second title in the year after winning the Tasmanian Open. "It's the best year since I started my career."
Van Roost, who plans to return next year despite the heat, said she may not be able to get into the world top 10.
"To get into the top 20 is difficult because you have to play consistently in every tournament. You have to at least reach the quarterfinals," she said.
Meanwhile, Guse and Hiraki could not attend the press conference due to their flight schedule back to Jakarta.
Fifty-nine players from 22 countries participated in the tournament, which also commemorated the 100th anniversary of the tennis complex. (nur/yan)