Title holder advances to Indonesia Open semifinal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Defending champion Yayuk Basuki survived a tight
\nthree setter against her Japanese doubles partner Nana Miyagi to
\nsecure a semifinal berth at the Indonesia Women's Open tennis
\nchampionships yesterday.<\/p>\n
A 30-minute delay due to heavy rain during the deciding set
\ngave the home favorite the second wind needed to regain her form
\nbefore marching on to a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 quarterfinal win.<\/p>\n
Yayuk now meets sixth seed Elena Spirlea of Rumania who
\nbreezed past Dominique Monami of Belgium 6-2, 6-1 in another
\nmatch earlier yesterday.<\/p>\n
Miyagi, who has soared into the 50s from the 300s in the
\nWomen's Tennis Association (WTA) computer rankings, frightened
\nthe home crowd with her two-hand strokes, which put Yayuk on the
\nrun. Miyagi forced a stretched first set when Yayuk took a 5-3
\nlead and held the serve.<\/p>\n
Miyagi kept up the pressure with deep backhands in the second
\nset, while Yayuk looked to be having problems with her stop
\nvolleys. The Japanese hardly broke a sweat when Yayuk made errors
\nand dropped the set.<\/p>\n
Only after minor medical treatment and a brief rest during the
\nbreak, could Yayuk regain her composure. Playing a blistering
\nserve and volley game, the resurgent second seed broke Miyagi's
\nserve to go 5-2 ahead in the decider.<\/p>\n
Yayuk gave her fans another scare when she double faulted
\ntwice and netted a stop volley when she served for a win. Miyagi,
\nhowever, failed to capitalize on the fact that Yayuk was tiring.
\nThe Japanese seventh seed hit her backhand returns to the net to
\nhand Yayuk the victory.<\/p>\n
\"I was not in my best shape. I complained over a stomach
\nproblem as I stepped on to the court,\" said Yayuk, referring to
\nher easy second set defeat.<\/p>\n
It was clearly the most awaited match, as some 300 tennis
\nfans, well as a number of journalists, were curious about the
\npossibility the outcome of the match might have been \"arranged\".<\/p>\n
\"Do you think I will waste an important game when both of us
\nare struggling to get up in our careers?\" Yayuk retorted sharply
\nto one journalist.<\/p>\n
In another quarterfinal match yesterday, Maria Strandlund
\nlived up to Sweden's billing as a strong world tennis powerhouse
\nby toppling fifth seed Wang Shi-ting 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.<\/p>\n
Strandlund maintained her superb serve and volley tennis which
\nconquered fourth seed and last year's runner-up Florencia Labat
\nof Argentina on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Swede, world number 147, invited most of the cheers soon
\nafter she shocked Wang with a first set win. She slowed down the
\npace in the second, but quickly regained her best form to race to
\na 5-3 lead before wrapping up the match with her sharp volleys.
\n(amd)<\/p>",
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