Yayuk Basuki to fight friend in Indonesia Open<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A close friendship is sure to turn into to hard-
\nfought rivalry for Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki and her Japanese
\ndoubles partner Nana Miyagi in the Indonesia Women's Open tennis
\nchampionships quarterfinals today.<\/p>\n
Second seed Yayuk bombarded Ei Iida of Japan with powerful
\nserves to earn a convincing 6-3, 6-1 win in yesterday's third
\nround match, which lasted only 50 minutes. Earlier yesterday,
\nseventh seed Miyagi was forced to drop a set in her 6-1, 0-6, 6-1
\nvictory over Claudia Porwik of Germany.<\/p>\n
"I will battle it out, no matter how close our off-court
\nrelationship is," Yayuk said after her match. "It's a rare
\nchallenge of mine, since I know her two-hand backhand is very
\ndangerous," Yayuk said of her partner.<\/p>\n
Yayuk struggled to beat Miyagi 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in their first
\nencounter at the Suntory Open tournament in 1991, several months
\nbefore they decided to form a doubles team.<\/p>\n
"Both of us know each other well. Nana often beats me in our
\npractices," Yayuk said.<\/p>\n
The mixed nationality pair have so far collected two titles
\nand notched their Grand Slam career high achievement by reaching
\nthe U.S. Open semifinal in 1993. They are now seeded first in the
\ndoubles event of the US$161,000 tournament.<\/p>\n
Yesterday Yayuk played a far different game from her
\nexhibition against former world number one Martina Navratilova on
\nWednesday night.<\/p>\n
"I had nothing to lose in the exhibition, since my target is
\nwinning this tournament," Yayuk said.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian, who is originally a baseliner, displayed a
\nsuperb serve and volley combination to race to a commanding 5-2
\nlead over lucky loser Iida.<\/p>\n
Serving for a win, however, Yayuk was frustrated by Iida's
\nlong forehands and lobs, which cost the Indonesian her first
\nbroken serve. But Yayuk bounced back with her characteristic
\nforehand to pin Iida to her baseline to seal the set.<\/p>\n
Yayuk was unchallenged in the next stage, forcing Iida to
\ntally unnecessary mistakes. The Japanese, who upset Indonesia's
\nnumber two Romana Tedjakusuma in Tuesday's second round, saved
\nher only game, before Yayuk hammered home blasting serves to wrap
\nup the match.<\/p>\n
Miyagi lost her grip in the second set, double faulting five
\ntimes and producing a string of unforced errors. She added four
\nmore double faults in the decider, but Porwik was too slow to
\nmatch Miyagi's smart ball placing.<\/p>\n
German top seed Sabine Hack also enjoyed a comfortable third
\nround win yesterday. Playing a serve and volley game, Hack edged
\nout Julie Steven of the U.S. 6-3, 6-3. The German will now meet
\nJana Nejedly of Canada, who strolled to a 6-1, 6-4 giant-killing
\nwin over 13th seed Karin Kschwendt of Germany.<\/p>\n
Nejedly sprang a surprise on Tuesday when she toppled another
\nGerman, Elena Wagner, who is seeded eighth in the 64-field
\ncompetition.(amd)<\/p>",
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