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Coach, players express regret over converted courts
Former Indonesian tennis star Wynne Prakusya remembered that the tennis courts at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) sporting complex used to host world-class tournaments and players
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span>Former Indonesian tennis star Wynne Prakusya remembered that the tennis courts at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) sporting complex used to host world-class tournaments and players. Wynne, once ranked 74th by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), said ordinary people used to play on the same courts.
“The tennis courts produced many of the country’s tennis aces,” Wynne, who is now a coach, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
“I grew up at the courts. A lot of stories have been recorded at the courts. Almost all of the country’s tennis aces have played on the courts. The heart of Indonesian tennis lies there,” she added.
“Famous players who have won grand slams, such as Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Gabriela Sabatini, Leander Paes and Martina Hingis, have also played on the courts. The tennis courts were our pride at the time, as the world learned that we have [good facilities] at the GBK.”
When she heard that some of the tennis courts, including all the clay courts, at the GBK would be demolished to make way for the construction of a baseball stadium for the 2018 Asian Games, she was shocked and felt an urge to protest the plan, as she felt it was nonsense.
Now only four outdoor hard courts, two of them center courts, and one indoor court remain inside the GBK sport complex, which is the sports hub of the capital.
Those numbers are a far cry from the GBK’s previous 18 outdoor courts — 12 clay courts and six hard courts — aside from the center courts and the indoor tennis court.
The removal of the tennis courts at the GBK sport complex is back in the spotlight since national tennis star Christopher “Christo” Rungkat expressed his concern during the recent Wimbledon tournament that ended on July 14.
In an interview with AFP, Christo, who won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2018 Asian Games, said it would be hard for Indonesia’s young tennis players to get far if the government did not support them by building adequate facilities.
“We had a good facility with many clay courts and hard courts — but the government decided to convert them into a baseball field, which is very sad for me. It's right in the center of Jakarta,” he told the news agency.
Agreeing with Christo, Wynne said the lack of proper facilities would also impact the preparation of players before tournaments. She said most Indonesian tennis players, who grew up playing on hard courts, would have a hard time developing their game in the clay season without familiarizing themselves with that surface by practicing on clay courts.
“Since I am active in the Indonesian Tennis Association [Pelti], [which has its office at the sport complex], I have never seen any baseball-related activity at the baseball stadium,” she said.
“This makes me question whether the stadium is really being used or not.”
Commenting on this, Youth and Sports Ministry spokesman Gatot S. Dewobroto said the decision to replace the tennis court with a baseball stadium had been done with the Pelti’s blessings.
“The decision to build a baseball stadium didn’t come out of the blue. It was done with the permission of the Pelti,” he said.
Pelti head Rildo Ananda Anwar said he had initiated a proposal for the construction of two additional tennis courts inside the GBK sports complex.
He had submitted the proposal in early 2018, when the center court was inaugurated ahead of the Asiad, but the plan hit a brick wall.
“I tried to propose two additional courts, so that we could hold international tournaments, as the standards require us to have six courts,” he told the Post.
“The budget for establishing the additional courts is there at the Public Works and Housing Ministry, but no location is available to build them. And I can’t really do much when it comes to [land availability issues],” said Rildo, who is a former inspector-general at the ministry.
Gatot praised the Pelti’s initiative and encouraged further discussion with stakeholders to find a solution.
“So, if we are going to discuss the possibility of building the courts inside the GBK complex, then we must discuss this among the GBK management, the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Public Works Ministry,” Gatot said.
