Wild-card entries for 5 locals at Indosiar Open
Wild-card entries for 5 locals at Indosiar Open
JAKARTA (JP): Organizers of the Indosiar Men's Tennis Championships will grant wild-card entries to five local players, with two of them earning places in the main draw.
Tournament director Eddy Katimansah said yesterday that the players will be decided by the Indonesian Tennis Association.
Eddy, who is also in charge of promotion and development for the organization, declined to disclose the possibilities, but hinted that national number one Suwandi deserves one of the wild- card places for the 32-field main draw.
"The names will be announced at the last minute as usual," he said.
The US$328,000 tournament, held at the Senayan rebound-ace tennis courts, will start on Monday. Players will be vying for a $43,000 first prize and 150 ranking points.
The losing finalist will receive $25,300 and 108 points, while semifinalists will earn $15,000 and 65 points each.
The week-long tennis championships, sanctioned by the Association of Tennis Professionals and sponsored by the private television network Indosiar, is considered a warm-up tournament for the Australian Open.
The country's best, Suwandi, has been a regular wild-card entrant since the inception of the tournament in 1992, but never survived the first hurdle. The other candidates look to include 18th Southeast Asian Games veterans, such as Eddy Kusdaryanto, Bonit Wiryawan and Sulistyo Wibowo.
Defending champion Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands and Austrian Gilbert Schaller, world number 19 and 20 respectively, have confirmed their participation. Haarhuis, better known as a great doubles player, will top the seeding list.
Other world-rated players include number 37 Javier Sanchez of Spain, number 43 Jacco Eltingh and number 67 Sjeng Schalken, both of the Netherlands.
"Haarhuis made such impressive progress last year," Eddy said. The Dutchman started from number 42 and finished last season at his career high of 19.
The organizers confirmed earlier that American world number five Michael Chang, winner of the first two editions, would not be appearing this time around because they had refused to pay the whopping $300,000 appearance fee Chang's agent demanded.
Eddy, who is also an obstetrician and gynecologist, said that the tournament is free for all tennis lovers for the first time ever. The organizers came to that decision after the bad turnout last year.
"We hope more people who love tennis will come to see the tournament," Eddy said. Millions of free invitations are available at the association's office. (05)