Top guns clash in opener today

Host Philippines and Indonesia found themselves pitting their top guns in the opening singles in an early test of strength and character that could pave the way for a weekend of thrill and drama in their Asia Oceania Zone Group II NEC Davis Cup tie at the Rizal Tennis Center today.

The opening singles of the best-of-five tie, determined in a draw at the Manila Midtown Hotel yesterday, pit top ranked Johnny Arcilla against Suwandi Suwandi at 10 a.m. and Adelo Abadia versus Febi Widihiyanto at 1 p.m.

Opposing non-playing captains Martin Misa of the Philippines and Tintus Arianto Wibowo of Indonesia said the draw fit into their respective battle plans and both predicted their side will take the lead going into the doubles match tomorrow.

Misa nominated Rolando Ruel Jr. and Pop Sabandon against Hendri Susilo Pramono and Edy Kusdaryanto in the doubles -- the lone event the Philippines lost in a 4-1 win over the same rival in Jakarta last year.

Wibowo is hopeful they can redeem themselves from that sorry loss, confident his battle-scarred warriors will prove classy against the Philippines' young turks.

Wibowo is specifically optimistic on the matches of Suwandi, the 1993 Southeast Asian Games singles gold medalist who has long been a scourge of Filipino netters.

Suwandi, 23, is expected to come out firing to include Arcilla to his long list of Filipino victims including Felix Barrientos and Roland So.

But Arcilla warned Suwandi not to be overconfident.

"Ibubuhos ko lahat ng kaya ko. Ito ang matagal ko nang panaginip, ang makapaglaro sa Davis Cup kaya pipilitin ko talagang manalo (I will give all I have. This has been my dream, to play in the Davis Cup so I will really try to win it)," said Arcilla, a member of the RP team since last year but has yet to see action even once.

"The draw suited our plans very well. We were really looking forward to having Johnny (Arcilla) play first. And they (Filipino players) are very eager to play," Misa said.

The tie pits the Philippines and Indonesia for the ninth time. They have an even 4-4 win-loss records in head-on matches with the Filipinos breaking a 4-0 spree by the Indons last year.

The Indons beat the Filipinos in 1986 in Jakarta, 1992 in Manila and 1993 again in Jakarta and in 1997 at the Philippine Columbian Association courts.

The winner of this tie will go up against the winner between Iran and Pakistan in the second round.