De Lone to meet Carlsson in final
De Lone to meet Carlsson in final
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Erika De Lone of the U.S. will face Asa
Carlsson of Sweden in the final of the US$180,000 Wismilak
International '99 after they won their semifinals on Saturday.
Unseeded De Lone had an easy match against Rita Grande of
Italy 6-3, 6-2, while Carlsson had to pump out her energy to
eliminate Joannette Kruger of South Africa 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.
Grande, cheered by local spectators, failed to overcome De
Lone's crossing strokes. Grande, Women's Tennis Association (WTA)
number 63, opened the first set by taking the first game 1-0
through her hard serves. But De Lone took control to lead 5-1.
Grande only managed to win one more game, 2-5, before De Lone
concluded the first set 6-2.
In the second set, both players tied 3-3 until the sixth game.
Starting from the seventh game, Grande failed to overcome De
Lone's down-the-line forehands and backhands to give up 3-6.
The Carlsson-Kruger semifinal was more interesting as both
players fought hard from the first game to force a tie break
before Carlsson won 7-5.
In the second set, Carlsson made unforced errors to be downed
1-3, but she managed to equal 3-3 before leading 4-3. But Kruger
fought back to tie 4-4 and both players took one more game each
for 5-5 before Carlsson won 7-5.
RCTI will air live the final match on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Wismilak general manager, Willy Walla, said he would try to
negotiate with the WTA to return the tournament to Surabaya next
year.
"The WTA still appoints Kuala Lumpur as the host of the
tournament but we'll try to negotiate until the end of the year.
We'll give a security guarantee to make them change the
decision," he said.
WTA moved the tournament from Surabaya due to security worries
in Indonesia. The tournament was not featured last year.
In Perth, Australia, Indonesian junior players only finished
14th in the Under-16 World Youth Cup after bowing out to Uruguay
2-1 on Saturday, AFP reported.
Dea Sumantri defeated Rosina Yeregui 6-4, 7-5 but teammate
Angelique Wijaya lost to Lucia Migliarini 1-6, 3-6. In the
doubles, Dea and Angelique failed to win over Migliarini and
Yeregui to lose 3-6, 2-6. (yan)