Coetzer beats Yayuk Basuki in Toshiba Classic

Coetzer beats Yayuk Basuki in Toshiba Classic

CARLSBAD, California (Agencies): Amanda Coetzer, the compact
South African with the potent forehand, posted a straight-sets
win over erratic Indonesian Yayuk Basuki at the Toshiba Tennis
Classic on Thursday to reach her ninth semifinal this year.

The third-seeded Coetzer combined patience with power to beat
Yayuk 6-3 6-4 in a 77-minute quarterfinals clash.

"I played the right shot at the right time. I didn't try to go
for two much unless I came to the net and was forced to hit a
good shot," the seventh-ranked Coetzer said.

Yayuk, who was coming off Wednesday's upset of fifth seed Anke
Huber, actually hit 16 more winners than Coetzer. But her 33
unforced errors -- compared to just 11 for the South African --
nullified all her good work.

"She can be a very dangerous but I was the steadier player
today," said Coetzer, who awaits the winner of the late
quarterfinal between second seed Monica Seles and Belarussian
Natasha Zvereva.

Seventh seed Conchita Martinez romped into the quarterfinals
with a 46-minute, 6-1 6-0 pasting of Czech veteran Helena Sukova.

"It was a great match for me. I was very aggressive and didn't
let her play her game," the 1994 Wimbledon champion said.

Martinez will not have long to savor her lopsided win. The win
put the Spaniard directly in the path of world number one Martina
Hingis just four days after the Swiss teen crushed Martinez in a
final at Palo Alto.

Coetzer used pivotal breaks in the seventh and ninth games to
capture the opening set from Basuki.

With the South African up 5-4 in the second, Basuki self-
destructed, producing her seventh double fault at match point to
put Coetzer into an increasingly familiar position -- the final
four.

Coetzer credited the obvious improvement in her play to her
work with Australian coach Gavin Hopper, who helped turn her
steady game into a dangerous one -- one that accounted for two
wins over Steffi Graf earlier this year.

"I really had to change my ground strokes. I had to get a
weapon into my game," he 1.57 meter blonde said.

"Even though I was in the top 20, I felt I wasn't competitive
against the top players, especially the young people coming up,"
she said.

Hopper, who became her coach early in 1995, has molded Coetzer
into one of the tougher opponents on the tour.

"I had a lot of faith in him. He's a very good teacher," said
Coetzer after improving her 1997 match record to 41-16.

"Before that it was very up and down," she said. "I could hit
good shots but had no sense of where to use it.

"Now, I feel I can hit winners from anywhere on the court,"
she said.

In Montreal Thursday was not a good day for the top seeds at
the du Maurier Open.

Former U.S. college champion Chris Woodruff beat second-seeded
Croat Goran Ivanisevic 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 and Fabrice Santoro upset
Austrian No. 3 Thomas Muster 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

Top-seeded Michael Chang did advance with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
victory over Alex O'Brien.

In other matches, No. 4 Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov beat
defending champion South African Wayne Ferreira 7-5, 6-3, No. 5
Thomas Enqvist beat fellow Swede Jonas Bjorkmann, the 12th seed,
6-3, 6-2. No. 7 Australian Mark Philippousis downed France's
Gillaume Raoux 7-5, 6-3 and No. 8 Dutchman Richard Krajicek beat
Justin Gimelstob 6-2, 6-4.

Santoro won a challenger tournament in Newcastle, England, on
Sunday, then flew overnight to Montreal in time to beat 14th-
seeded Jim Courier in the first round.

The French right-hander knocked off Geoff Grant on Wednesday,
then beat Muster.

Santoro, who has added to his workload by playing doubles,
advanced to Friday's quarterfinals against French Open champion
Gustavo Kuerten. After Courier and Muster, that's three French
Open champions in one week.