Big challenge no hurdle for Yayuk at Acura<\/p>\n
MANHATTAN BEACH, California (Agencies): Powerful serves
\ndisplayed by Yayuk Basuki claimed another major casualty at the
\nAcura Classic tennis championships on Friday as the Indonesian
\ntoppled fourth seed Lindsay Davenport of the United States for
\nher second semifinal appearance of the year.<\/p>\n
Unseeded Yayuk drilled her belting serves to put Davenport out
\nof the US$430,000 tournament with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 win. The
\nIndonesian world number 33 struck three aces in her opening
\nservice game and 10 in all, as Davenport struggled to work out
\nwhere the ball was going.<\/p>\n
Yayuk, who reached her first semifinals this year at the
\nIndonesia Open last February, has now chalked up a notable scalp
\nover a player ranked among world's top ten twice. A spirited
\nYayuk left Argentina's Federation Cup team in jeopardy when she
\noutgunned world number seven Gabriela Sabatini in April.<\/p>\n
\"She served really well,\" Davenport said after the match. \"I
\nwas holding my own serve OK, but it's so hard to break her. She
\nmixes up the pace a lot, and I couldn't tell where she was going
\nto go with her serve. She has a spin which is really unusual and
\nit's hard to read.\"<\/p>\n
The Indonesian looks certain to make a great leap on her
\nranking when the World Tennis Association announces the players'
\nrankings tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Yayuk, whose natural play led her to her fourth appearance in
\nWimbledon fourth round last month, now sets up a semifinal clash
\nagainst Spain's world number three Conchita Martinez, who had
\nlittle trouble in disposing of Germany's Anke Huber 6-1, 7-5.<\/p>\n
Both Yayuk and Martinez will have their fifth meeting, with
\nYayuk seeking her only first win to break the Spanish jinx. Yayuk
\nlast succumbed to the Spaniard in three sets in the Toray Pan
\nPacific Open quarterfinals last February.<\/p>\n
American Chanda Rubin produced another upset on Friday when
\nshe bounced back to edge out third seed Sabatini 6-7 (0-7), 7-6
\n(7-3), 6-0. It was the American's first win in seven meetings
\nwith Sabatini.<\/p>\n
Rubin, seeded 10th here, will play top seed Arantxa Sanchez
\nVicario of Spain for a place in today's final. Sanchez Vicario
\nstruggled before overcoming Natasha Zvereva of Belarus 6-2, 3-6,
\n6-4.<\/p>\n
After the first game in the decider, Sabatini received
\ntreatment for a pain that developed in her right heel. The
\nArgentinean, who had served well and struck some spectacular
\nforehand winners, failed to compete as strongly in the final set,
\nbut refused to lay the blame on her injury.<\/p>\n
\"She was coming in to the net so many times and just went for
\nit, and she served very well. She played smart and deserved to
\nwin,\" Sabatini said. \"I was surprised she played so well all the
\ntime, because usually she can play for some moments but not the
\nwhole match.\"<\/p>\n
Michaels win<\/p>\n
In Mason, Ohio, two Michaels, Stich and Chang, came back from
\nthe brink of defeat to capture quarterfinal wins at the $1.8
\nmillion ATP Championship, Stich over Pete Sampras and Chang over
\nJim Courier.<\/p>\n
Under clear skies and a full moon, the fourth-seeded and two-
\ntime defending champion Chang scrambled back from two match
\npoints down in the second-set tiebreaker to take a 3-6, 7-6 (8-
\n6), 7-5 victory over the 11th-seeded Courier.<\/p>\n
Earlier, in boiling heat, the eighth-seeded Stich of Germany
\nsaved a match point with an ace down the middle at 30-40 in the
\n10th game of the second set and ended up a 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3),
\n6-1 winner over an exhausted Sampras, the second seed.<\/p>\n
The ace was one of Stich's 27 in the match to Sampras's six.<\/p>\n
After losing that match point the second-ranked Sampras wilted
\nand strained his way through a third set.<\/p>\n
\"I just felt tired,\" Sampras said after the 2 hour, 2 minute
\nmatch. \"I was pretty hot and I was struggling with it a little
\nmore than he was.\"<\/p>\n
The hot, humid weather didn't take a toll on top-seeded
\nAmerican Andre Agassi, who captured a 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal
\nvictory over 50th-ranked Renzo Furlan of Italy. Agassi now faces
\n13th-seeded Thomas Enqvist who completed a triumphant hat trick
\nover Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia. Big serving Ivanisevic folded
\nto the Swede 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, his third loss in a row within just a
\nmonth.<\/p>",
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