Tour 'baby' Widjaja determined to reach the top

Indonesia's rising star Angelique Widjaja has done something even Russian glamour girl Anna Kournikova hasn't been able to do - she has won a professional tournament. And Widjaja said victory at the Wismilak International in Bali in September was the catalyst that really convinced her that she could make it on the highly-competitive WTA Tour.

While a professional tournament win continues to elude the more heralded Kournikova, Widjaja has already broken her maiden status - at her first attempt - and just two months after being crowned Junior Wimbledon champion. 'Whatever happens to me, whatever I do, you can't take that victory away from me. I earned it and it was certainly one of my proudest moments,' said recently turned 17-year-old Widjaja, who is competing in this week's Hong Kong Ladies Challenge.

Her victory in the final at the Indonesian beach resort over South Africa's Joannette Kruger - ranked in the world's top 50 - was the second title she won this year. Bali was a US$175,000, third-tier tournament.

'I was able to compete in Bali because organisers gave me a wild card,' explained Widjaja, who comes from the same country that produced such fine players as Yayuk Basuki.

'It's a good start for me to have won a pro tournament. I'm proud of that, of course, but I hope things will get even better for me.'

Just two months earlier, Widjaja took centre stage at the Wimbledon Junior Championships, joining only a handful of Asian players to lift the girls' singles title. She has also won five other junior international titles, including the Japan and Singapore Opens.

The Bandung-born Widjaja's world ranking has experienced a meteoric rise. At the beginning of the year, she was only ranked 700-plus. But after just seven months as a full-time player, Widjaja has seen her ranking jump some six hundred places to currently occupy 147th spot.