Coetzer beats Yayuk Basuki in Toshiba Classic<\/p>\n
CARLSBAD, California (Agencies): Amanda Coetzer, the compact
\nSouth African with the potent forehand, posted a straight-sets
\nwin over erratic Indonesian Yayuk Basuki at the Toshiba Tennis
\nClassic on Thursday to reach her ninth semifinal this year.<\/p>\n
The third-seeded Coetzer combined patience with power to beat
\nYayuk 6-3 6-4 in a 77-minute quarterfinals clash.<\/p>\n
\"I played the right shot at the right time. I didn't try to go
\nfor two much unless I came to the net and was forced to hit a
\ngood shot,\" the seventh-ranked Coetzer said.<\/p>\n
Yayuk, who was coming off Wednesday's upset of fifth seed Anke
\nHuber, actually hit 16 more winners than Coetzer. But her 33
\nunforced errors -- compared to just 11 for the South African --
\nnullified all her good work.<\/p>\n
\"She can be a very dangerous but I was the steadier player
\ntoday,\" said Coetzer, who awaits the winner of the late
\nquarterfinal between second seed Monica Seles and Belarussian
\nNatasha Zvereva.<\/p>\n
Seventh seed Conchita Martinez romped into the quarterfinals
\nwith a 46-minute, 6-1 6-0 pasting of Czech veteran Helena Sukova.<\/p>\n
\"It was a great match for me. I was very aggressive and didn't
\nlet her play her game,\" the 1994 Wimbledon champion said.<\/p>\n
Martinez will not have long to savor her lopsided win. The win
\nput the Spaniard directly in the path of world number one Martina
\nHingis just four days after the Swiss teen crushed Martinez in a
\nfinal at Palo Alto.<\/p>\n
Coetzer used pivotal breaks in the seventh and ninth games to
\ncapture the opening set from Basuki.<\/p>\n
With the South African up 5-4 in the second, Basuki self-
\ndestructed, producing her seventh double fault at match point to
\nput Coetzer into an increasingly familiar position -- the final
\nfour.<\/p>\n
Coetzer credited the obvious improvement in her play to her
\nwork with Australian coach Gavin Hopper, who helped turn her
\nsteady game into a dangerous one -- one that accounted for two
\nwins over Steffi Graf earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\"I really had to change my ground strokes. I had to get a
\nweapon into my game,\" he 1.57 meter blonde said.<\/p>\n
\"Even though I was in the top 20, I felt I wasn't competitive
\nagainst the top players, especially the young people coming up,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
Hopper, who became her coach early in 1995, has molded Coetzer
\ninto one of the tougher opponents on the tour.<\/p>\n
\"I had a lot of faith in him. He's a very good teacher,\" said
\nCoetzer after improving her 1997 match record to 41-16.<\/p>\n
\"Before that it was very up and down,\" she said. \"I could hit
\ngood shots but had no sense of where to use it.<\/p>\n
\"Now, I feel I can hit winners from anywhere on the court,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
In Montreal Thursday was not a good day for the top seeds at
\nthe du Maurier Open.<\/p>\n
Former U.S. college champion Chris Woodruff beat second-seeded
\nCroat Goran Ivanisevic 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 and Fabrice Santoro upset
\nAustrian No. 3 Thomas Muster 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.<\/p>\n
Top-seeded Michael Chang did advance with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
\nvictory over Alex O'Brien.<\/p>\n
In other matches, No. 4 Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov beat
\ndefending champion South African Wayne Ferreira 7-5, 6-3, No. 5
\nThomas Enqvist beat fellow Swede Jonas Bjorkmann, the 12th seed,
\n6-3, 6-2. No. 7 Australian Mark Philippousis downed France's
\nGillaume Raoux 7-5, 6-3 and No. 8 Dutchman Richard Krajicek beat
\nJustin Gimelstob 6-2, 6-4.<\/p>\n
Santoro won a challenger tournament in Newcastle, England, on
\nSunday, then flew overnight to Montreal in time to beat 14th-
\nseeded Jim Courier in the first round.<\/p>\n
The French right-hander knocked off Geoff Grant on Wednesday,
\nthen beat Muster.<\/p>\n
Santoro, who has added to his workload by playing doubles,
\nadvanced to Friday's quarterfinals against French Open champion
\nGustavo Kuerten. After Courier and Muster, that's three French
\nOpen champions in one week.<\/p>",
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