Indonesia bares line-up in Davis Cup tie against Philippines
MANILA — David Agung Susanto will banner Indonesia which will face host Philippines
in the first round of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II tie next week, the
International Tennis Federation announced on Wednesday.
The other Indonesians seeing action in the tournament scheduled February 3 to 5
at the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) indoor clay courts in Paco, Manila
are Aditya Hari Sasongko, Anthony Susanto and Sunu-Wahyu Trijati.
Except for Anthony Susanto, all three players were part of the team which scored
a 5-0 victory over Sri Lanka in the Group II relegation play-off tie last year.
Anthony Susanto has replaced Christopher Rungkat. Team captain is Andrian Raturandang.
The 25-year-old David Agung Susanto is currently No. 739 in the world. He is a clay
court specialist who owns four doubles titles and has played in four Davis Cup ties.
Indonesia has beaten the Philippines six times in four meetings, the last was in
2012 (3-2) in their home turf.
The Philippines, on the other hand, last won over Indonesia in 1999 in Jakarta.
In 1997, Indonesia defeated the Philippines, 3-2, also at the PCA courts.
Veteran collegiate coach Karl Santamaria, who steered University of Santo Tomas
and National University to several titles in the UAAP, was appointed anew as captain
of the team comprising US-born Filipinos Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales, Francis
Casey Alcantara and top junior Albert “AJ” Lim Jr., who is No. 35 in the world juniors
rankings.
“It will be a tough tie especially since Indonesia has beaten us in the Southeast
Asian Games team events in 2011 and 2015,” said the 37-year-old Santamaria, who
has been supervising the training of Alcantara for the past two weeks while waiting
for the arrival of Huey, Gonzales and Lim.
Huey, the world’s No. 22 doubles player, is competing in the Australian Open while
Lim ended his campaign in the juniors event after losing in the second round on
Tuesday. Gonzales is playing in Challengers in the US.
Last year, the team of Huey, Gonzales, Alcantara and Jeson Patrombon bowed to Chinese
Taipei, 1-3, in the semifinal round to stay in Group II.
The winner of the tie will be promoted to Group I in 2018, while the loser will
stay in Group II. Jean Malanum/PNA
Source: northboundasia.com