Indonesia tennis queen Yayuk out of Wismilak Open
Indonesia tennis queen Yayuk out of Wismilak Open
JAKARTA (JP): Tennis enthusiasts will find something missing
while watching the WTA Tour Wismilak Open women's tennis
championship in Surabaya, East Java next week as Yayuk Basuki has
opted out of the US$100,000 tournament.
"Yayuk risks losing 100 ranking points if she loses here. She
prefers to improve her ranking by defending her title in
Beijing," Kevin Livesey, an official of the Women Tennis
Association said in Surabaya on Tuesday.
"I want Indonesian fans to understand this dilemmatic
situation," Livesay said.
He added that such a high ranked player as Yayuk should avoid
competing in Tier 4 tournaments, the lowest tournament sanctioned
by the WTA.
The highest ranked tournament sanctioned by WTA is Tier 1. It
offers at least $800,000 in prize money. The four Grand Slam
tournaments are all Tier 1 events.
Yayuk was seeded first in the inaugural event last year, but
crashed to eventual champion Elena Wagner of Germany in the
quarterfinals.
The Indonesian world number 25 is now making her title defense
attempt in the Nokia Open in Beijing, the only professional
tournament held in China.
Livesey admitted that Yayuk's decision disappointed the
organizing committee. The committee offered Yayuk a wild-card
entry last week for the tournament to be held at the Embong Sawo
tennis center.
Wagner will also miss the event because of an injury. She is
playing at home in Leipzig.
Taiwanese world number 46 Wang Shi-ting tops the seed in the
32-field tournament. If the draw runs as expected, she will meet
second seed Rubbi Ghirardi of France in the final.
Thailand's rising star, Tamarine Tanasugarn, who is expected
to don her national colors in the 18th Southeast Asian Games in
Chiang Mai, was included in the main draw.
Tournament director Agus Susanto said the organizers will
grant the two wild-card entries to national players. However, he
failed to name the recipients.
He said the entrance of four top ranked players will surely
make the annual event sponsored by a clove cigarette company more
challenging.
The four tops players are Wang of Chinese Taipei, China's
Fang, South Korean Park Sung-hee and Tamarin of Thailand.
Main draw qualifying rounds are due to start today.
Meanwhile in Beijing, Yayuk was stretched to three sets before
defeating Hong Kong's Tang Min 3-6 6-3 6-3 in yesterday's first
round matches. Yesterday's other match saw China's Fang advance
to the second round with a quick 6-3 6-0 win over Eleni Rossides
of the U.S. (amd/rsl)