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Indonesia's Davis Cup victory won’t sugar-coat talent regeneration issue
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The Indonesian doubles pair of Christopher Rungkat (left) and David Agung Susanto play against Kenya’s duo during the Davis Cup qualifier between Indonesia and Kenya at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta on Saturday. Indonesia won 4-0. (The Jakarta Post/Courtesy of PB Pelti)
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fter beating Kenya at the Davis Cup World Group II tennis playoff on Friday and Saturday, the Indonesian men’s team faced their old ghost, namely slow talent regeneration.
The Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) has been dealing with the issue for years. The women’s side is one step ahead of the men’s thanks to players like Priska Madelyn Nugroho, who won the 2020 Australian Open Junior's girls doubles, and Janice Tjen.
During the matches against Kenya at the outdoor courts of Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno sports complex that ended with a 4-0 victory for Indonesia, the country's Davis Cup team still relied heavily on its ace Christopher “Christo” Rungkat, who is now at position 80 in the ATP world ranking. The Indonesian team’s nonplaying captain, Febi Widhiyanto, deployed Christo in both the singles and doubles, despite the player’s absence from international singles competitions since 2018.
Partnering with another senior player, David Agung Susanto, the duo sealed Indonesia's victory with a narrow escape from a tie-break thriller against Kenyan pair Ibrahim Kibet Yego and Ismael Changawa Ruwa Mzai, who surprised the crowd by putting up stiff resistance throughout the match. After surrendering the first set 6-7, the Indonesian pair bounced back and sealed the next two sets with 7-6 and 7-6.
Junior player Gunawan Trismuwantara managed to secure a 6-4, 6-2 win against Kevin Cheruiyot in the fourth match, thus perfecting Indonesia’s victory. Another junior player, M. Rifqi Fitriadi, however, would still need another chance to prove himself as he spent his time on the bench.
“I am proud seeing Gunawan play today [Saturday]. Even though we already led 3-0, he still gave 200 percent on the court. I hope that spirit will be maintained as the Davis Cup format now is world group, not only playing in the Asia and Oceania region,” Christo said.
A more competitive atmosphere was felt on the women’s side, where Priska and Janice were the team's backbone, accompanying senior player Aldila Sutjiadi in the recently concluded Fed Cup Asia Oceania Group I in Dubai, which was held from March 3 to 7.
Indonesian Fed Cup team captain Deddy Tedjamukti put the juniors on the front line, and that proved fruitful as Janice and Priska delivered with a solid performance.
Pelti chief Rildo Ananda Anwar said the association had been working on the regeneration issue by preparing second-tier players to back up the seniors.
“We give the opportunity to players to compete abroad to collect points. But here [in Jakarta] we also prepare them by setting up a tennis camp for [Pelti] to observe the development of the junior players,” he said on Saturday.
“If they compete in more tournaments, they will get more points. We will keep giving them the opportunity by selecting tournaments that fit their [eligibility]. This is Pelti is working on the sidelines in conducting a development program and giving them the best coaches.”
As a senior, Christo, who now focuses on playing doubles only, said his juniors should have their own targets and should be motivated to meet their ATP-ranked competitors from the Southeast Asian region.
Right now, the 21-year-old Rifqi only has an ATP doubles ranking, where he stands at world number 1761. In the database of International Tennis Federation (ITF) singles ranking, Rifqi stands at position 2451. The 17-year-old Gunawan, on the other hand, sits at 420th of the ITF junior ranking.
“Rifqi, for example, this year should have his own target to break into the top 1000, [while] Gunawan maybe could break into top 200 ITF,” he said.
“I see that both Rifqi and Gunawan have potential. They need more exposure to competitions. They should play at least 70 to 80 matches per year.”
“They also need to build their physical [strength] so they could play 70 to 80 matches per year.”
Aside from the skills and competency, for a tennis player to be able to reach world stage and achievement, strong financial backing is required. Many Indonesian players like Christo have to fly to tournaments abroad on their own expenses.
Right now, many local sport associations are deliberating a 'foster parent' concept, where an athlete could seek sponsorship from companies on his or her quest to the global arena.
