Indon ace completes tennis double

Ayu-Fani Damayanti of Indonesia outplayed top seed Sacha Jones of New Zealand to carve out a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory yesterday and capture the PLDT-Smart ITF Women’s Circuit championship at the Rizal Tennis Center.

The seventh-seeded Damayanti used a variety of drop shots to stifle Jones, a noted baseline player, as the Indonesian came away with the big upset one week before her 20th birthday.

“My coach (Susana) told me to give her short balls because she’s not good when running to the net and she’s a strong baseline player,” said Damayanti.

But the Indonesian needed two hours and 37 minutes, including an hour of rain delay, and a barrage of short balls she laced with forehand winners to stop Jones.

The win came a day after the Bali native teamed up with 18-year-old Jessy Rompies in turning back Juan Ting Fei of Chinese Taipei and Zhong Yi of China, 7-6 (2), 6-3, to bag the doubles plum.

The two wins also underscored the Indonesians’ supremacy of the two-leg event following triumphs in the Holcim-backed Week One by Lavinia Tananta in singles and Tananta and Rompies in doubles.

“I’m happy,” said Damayanti, who pocketed $1,568 in singles and half of the $637 in the doubles.

The win also avenged her 2-6, 4-6 loss to Jones in the Federation Cup in Thailand last February and Tananta’s 6-7 (12), 2-6 defeat to the Kiwi in Friday’s quarterfinals. – Joey Villar