By Slobodan Lekic/AP
Angelique Widjaja is a rare good-news story in crisis-torn Indonesia, where the president faces impeachment, the economy teeters on the edge of an abyss and thousands have been slaughtered in escalating communal conflicts. Last week, the 16-year-old became the first Indonesian to win a Grand Slam title when she clinched the Girls’ Singles Championship at Wimbledon.
Speaking to reporters after her return from London, she announced she would join the pro tour soon with the aim of becoming a “top 100 player” within three years.
“Then I will try to get into the top 10,” said Widjaja, who on July 7 defeated Russia’s Dinara Safina — Marat Safin’s 15-year-old sister — for the juniors’ title.
Widjaja said she would cross over into the pro women’s tour at next month’s U.S. Open.
Only three female players who won the Wimbledon junior title have gone on to win the women’s title. The last one was Martina Hingis who won the junior title in 1994 and the women’s three years later.
Despite its historic nature, Widjaja’s victory was barely noted by Indonesia’s media, whose sports coverage focuses mainly on the national obsessions of soccer and badminton.
A member of Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese minority, Widjaja, said she received no money from the cash-strapped government to pursue training. Her businessman father has so far bankrolled her participation on the international junior’s circuit, she said, adding that she is now looking for international sponsorship.
Asian tennis lags behind the rigorous standards in Europe and United States, where juniors become enmeshed in training and a full menu of matches before they reach high school. Many Asian governments are unwilling to devote resources to a game that requires considerable space for a relatively small number of players.
In Jakarta, as in most of Asia’s crowded cities, it is hard to fit in tennis courts.
A game usually involves inhaling exhaust fumes from the city’s traffic jams, the smell of nearby barbecue meat stalls, and smoke from clove-laced cigarettes that ball boys invariably puff on.
As a result, there is a dearth of Asian women in the top ranks. Indonesia’s only other prominent player, Yayuk Basuki, reached a career high at No. 19 when she qualified for the ladies’ quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1997. |
