Rungkat stumbles in second round, Tjuatjadarma crashes out immediately

Indonesian numero uno Christopher Rungkat came to "Uzbekistan F1 Futures" in Andijan as wild card recipient after Big Mama requested to the tourney committee while she was attending a conference in the land of Oleg Ogorodov. Only ranked at ATP 1426 and playing his first Futures of the season, Rungkat passed the first test as he disposed Russian Mikhail Fufygin (ATP 774) 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round. Rungkat, 19 years old, could not go further after he was beaten by seventh seed Pirmin Haenle of Germany 3-6, 6-7(3). In doubles, Rungkat partnered with Nikoloz Basilashvili from Georgia and they bowed out to second seed pair, Victor Kozin/Vaja Uzakov (Russia/Uzbekistan) 5-7, 4-6.

Meanwhile, 16 years old Michael Tjuatjadarma (ITF 473) crashed out instantly in the opening round of "Lee Duk Hee Cup Korea International Junior Championships 2009" in Seoul, South Korea this week. A fifth seed here at this ITF Grade 3 tourney, Tjuatjadarma lost to local qualifier Kim Ki-Hoon 1-6, 2-6 in the first round. Now, Tjuatjadarma can only rely on his doubles' performance with his partner, Mikita Karpovich from Belarus. Duo Karpovich and Tjuatjadarma is placed as second seed and they were successful to reach semi-finals. In the first round, Karpovich/Tjuatjadarma won over local pair, An Byeong-Mo/Jeong Ilyoung 6-3, 6-4. Then in quarterfinals, duo Belarus and Indonesia was forced into three sets before they defeated Japanese duet, Kazuma Kawachi/Kaichi Uchida 0-6, 7-5, 10-8. In the last four round, Karpovich/Tjuatjadarma will clash with fourth seed pair from South Korea, Kwon Yong-Jae/Lee Dae-Hee.

Last week at "Jeju International Junior Championships 2009" in Jeju, South Korea, as seventh seed Tjuatjadarma received first round bye and he bowed out to local player, Nam Ji-Sung 3-6, 4-6 in the second round (round 32). At this ITF Grade 4 tourney, as top seed pair in doubles, Tjuatjadarma partnered with Japanese Genki Hosoya and they got opening round bye. In the second round, they were ousted by local duo, Jeong Suk-Young/Jeong Yeon-Woo 0-6, 5-7.

Photo of Christopher Rungkat by Adji Soedibjo