The first day of "Garuda Indonesia Tennis Masters" will promise interesting feature of the best eight female players in Indonesia as result of almost one year long "Garuda Indonesia Tennis Series" organized by newly established "Sportama". I believe it will be the first showdown at home between former tennis queen Angelique Widjaja and the current number one Sandy Gumulya. Widjaja, Wimbledon Junior Champion in 2001 and world ranked number 55 on March 31, 2003 tomorrow is playing only her 10th singles' matches this year on national circuit after two years hiatus from rigorous and demanding pro tour. It is a tough call who will be the winner despite Widjaja's minimum training exposure.
Widjaja will rely on her vast experience in WTA Tour. She may not have her power back but she is still clever in intertwining the game with her solid backhand, good serve and well-known moonballs. It is time for Gumulya to get her revenge as both players have battled before in 2006 at Changsha, China 25K. In the second round of this tourney, Widjaja denied the challenge of Gumulya and sealed 7-5, 7-5 victory. Back then Widjaja had to start from the scratch again after over a year suffering from painful knee injury. Certainly Gumulya has the advantage of continuous tour than her opponent and as of now, she has played in total of 15 tournaments ranging from 10Ks to Tier III on the tour this season. The pressure is certainly on Gumulya as her big boss Martina Widjaja will expect her to win this maiden Masters. Keep on struggling to break into top 200s since 2006, Gumulya is currently ranked at WTA 292 as per December 8, 2008. She will try a lot to create an open court as way to smack her forehand winner. Her serve has slightly improved but it is still not her strength yet. It will be interesting to see how she executes her backhand in the match. The biggest advantage is indeed Gumulya's fighting spirit as she inherited such trait from her dad and mom who were former national cyclist and former national diver.
Another match will show Lavinia Tananta and Grace Sari Ysidora. Up to now, Tananta still leads 3-0 in her head to head with 15 years old Ysidora. In their first meeting last February at "Cigna Open", Tananta survived the scare as Ysidora forced the match into three sets, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5. Tananta is more consistent than her younger challenger. This Semarang born will play long rallies from the baseline and she is quite capable of maintaining her patience most of the time. Tananta will depend on her better power and faster ball speed than her junior. On the other hand, Ysidora will need to attack first with her explosive forehand and backhand. This junior player's return-serve has been very effective in the last three months and it is fine to pronounce her as the best returner nationally right now. Mental toughness from the two players will play a key role in this match between representative of Central Java and North Sumatra.
Ayu Fani Damayanti is likely not to have problem against Septi Mende. Damayanti has been in good form this year and is still dominating the national circuit. This Balinese girl will apply her solid groundstrokes and may avoid long rally if possible. On the other side, Mende has been lack of practice due to her heavy load of studying at a prestigious law school in Yogyakarta. Mende is still able in maintaining her power game but her physical fitness is in doubt. She needs to be effective in applying her strategy by making less errors and she must be ready to attack Damayanti's weak second serve.
Last but not least, "veteran" Liza Andriyani will face a challenge of recently departed prodigy from junior circuit, Jessy Rompies. Almost 30 years old, Andriyani claims that she still plays because of her love for the game and as way to keep healthy. Similar to Widjaja, Andriyani a native of Tegal in Central Java, will utilize her very longer hours on the tour than up and coming Rompies. Younger sister of former accomplished men's doubles player Sulistyo Wibowo, will try to slow the pace with her solid slice and mix-up the game as necessary. Across the net of Andriyani, Rompies will apply her power game, big serve and she may come to the net more. Their head to head is 1-1 but in the last meeting Rompies nicely won 6-4, 6-4 over her senior at "2007 Palazzo Open".
Photos of Gumulya, Andriyani & Widjaja, Damayanti are taken by Adji Soedibjo
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