Top seeds cruise into<\/p>\n
Indonesia Open semis<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): All four top seeded players sailed through the
\nsemifinals of the US$100,000 Indonesia Women's Open tennis
\nchampionships, but Wang Shi-ting, Yayuk Basuki and Kristin
\nRadford, first, third and fourth ranked respectively, sneaked
\nthrough with hard fought wins.<\/p>\n
Taiwanese world number 34 Wang bounced back from a one set
\ndeficit to tame lucky loser Nana Miyagi of Japan 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in
\ntheir quarterfinal match which lasted almost three hours. Wang
\nset a long awaited duel against home favorite Yayuk who posted a
\n6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 revenge win over American Nicole Arndt
\nin another three-hour cliff-hanger.<\/p>\n
Radford dashed her Australian compatriot Rachel McQuillan's
\nhopes of winning the last semifinal slot with a hard-earned 4-6,
\n7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory.<\/p>\n
Second seed Florencia Labat of Argentina had an easy passage
\ninto today's semifinals as she breezed past qualifier Dinky van
\nRensburg of South Africa 6-1, 6-2. The Argentinean now faces
\neither fifth seed Rachel McQuillan or Kristin Radford, both of
\nAustralia.<\/p>\n
The Yayuk victory relieved her crowds as the Indonesian number
\none missed three set points in the first set and was forced to
\nsave other three in the second.<\/p>\n
Displaying an unusual serve-and-volley style throughout the
\nmatch, Yayuk ventured forth to the net again and again to put
\nrelentless pressure against her hard serving opponent who beat
\nher in Pattaya, Thailand two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
However, she was quickly troubled against Arndt's passing
\nshots. Arndt fired 10 aces against Yayuk's three during the game.<\/p>\n
She was 5-4 up and led 40-0 for a set point in the first set
\nbefore she double faulted and racked up five unforced errors to
\nconcede a break. Arndt shrugged off a 2-5 deficit during the tie
\nbreak as she fired her devastating passing shots to snatch the
\nopening set.<\/p>\n
Yayuk broke Arndt's service to open the second set but struck
\non a break, before both players fought tooth and nail to save
\ntheir games. Both rivals nerves began to break as they registered
\na string of unforced errors in the tie-break. Yayuk only had a
\nshot at a decider when Arndt's volley hit the net.<\/p>\n
Yayuk looked to regain her confidence after she produced a
\nbreak to take a 4-3 lead in the decider. Arndt, in contrast,
\ndisplayed an error-prone play, despite her three successive aces
\nin the fifth game.<\/p>\n
The American volleyed wide three backhand returns from Yayuk
\nin the last two games, allowing her Indonesian rival to receive a
\nstanding ovation from her mistakes.<\/p>\n
\"I have to hit various strokes in the semifinal,\" said Yayuk.
\nShe admitted she would need to improve her backhand when she
\nfaced Yang today. Yayuk lost to her Taiwanese rival twice in 1988
\nand 1992.<\/p>\n
Wang was troubled against Miyagi's two-hand strokes as she
\ndropped two games in a row in the first set. The second set saw
\nMiyagi crash to seven double faults, including a string of three
\nin the seven game, but Wang squandered her 5-3 lead with a broken
\nservice.<\/p>\n
The top seed was unchallenged in the decider as she hit all
\ncorners with her thunderous forehands. Miyagi who had ran out of
\nsteam could only save her first game before Wang rack up five
\ngames in a row.<\/p>\n
\"I thought it was not my day when I lost four games in a row,\"
\nsaid Wang. \"But I changed my style in the second set.\"<\/p>\n
Wang said she was ready to battle against Yayuk whom she said
\nto have improved from the last time they met two years ago. (amd)<\/p>",
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