Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After exiting early in the first leg of the Bakrie men's satellite tennis tournament here, former national top player Febi Widhiyanto promises a better showing in the next leg of the tournament in Surabaya, East Java, next week.
Cigna Open champion and Indonesian Davis Cup team member Febi, who lost to Korean Daniel Yoo in the first round, said he would raise his game in the next leg.
""My personal target is to play in the final leg, the Masters, and have a chance of recapturing my international ranking,"" he told The Jakarta Post by phone.
The former top national player, who enjoyed a career high world ranking of 495 in 2003, is no longer ranked following a six-month layoff due to a right wrist injury. His last ranking was 996th last year.
He contemplated his recent dip in performance and said he looked forward to moving on.
""My result in the first leg was poor. However, I can learn from that experience to fix some weaknesses,"" he said.
""The important thing for me is that I was able to fine-tune my performance in the atmosphere of an international tournament after a prolonged absence.""
Febi was one of 10 local players unable to rise to the challenge against their foreign opponents in the tournament. The last local player standing was the country's number one Prima Simpatiaji.
The world number 635th was outclassed by top seed Brian Wilson, ranked 365th, of the United States, losing 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals Saturday.
Prima, who advanced to the semifinals at the expense of fifth seed Guilherme Ochiai of Brazil, was overpowered by the hard-serving American.
""He (Wilson) played very good tennis. He kept on cornering me with his fast serves,"" Prima said. ""I also made many unforced errors.""
In the other match Saturday, second seed Norikazu Sugiyama of Japan eased past Hoh-Kong So of Hong Kong 6-2, 6-4 to set up a meeting with Wilson in Sunday's final.
Like Febi, Prima is confident of improving on his showing in the upcoming legs of the tournament.
The remaining legs will be in Surabaya (May 15-21) and Makassar, South Sulawesi (May 22-28), with a total of US$6,250 on offer.
The final leg -- the Masters -- will be held from May 29 to June 4 in Jakarta.
