Indonesia's Yayuk moves to Canadian Open third round
Indonesia's Yayuk moves to Canadian Open third round
MONTREAL (Agencies): Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki continued her successful preparation for the U.S. Open by beating 10th seed Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to reach the third round of the US$750,000 Canadian Open here on Tuesday.
The victory was sweet revenge for Yayuk whose loss to Maleeva gave the Bulgarian squad a 3-0 sweep in their second round Federation Cup match last month, and also prevented Indonesia from entering next year's World Group of the world women's team championship.
Maleeva joined three other seeded players -- number eight Anke Huber of Germany, number 15 Meredith McGrath of the United States and number 16 Florencia Labat of Argentina -- who crashed out of the tournament on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old Yayuk had previously unleashed a devastating serve and forehand to clear her first hurdle in the form of home favorite Cambodian-born Patricia Hy 7-5, 6-4 on Monday.
Top-seeded Steffi Graf, who got a first-round bye, also won her match when she defeated American Sandra Cacic 6-1, 6-2 for a third round battle against 14th-seeded Naoko Sawamatsu of Japan. The top eight seeds all received first-round byes.
Also moving into the third round were second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, who defeated Asa Carlsson of Sweden 6- 4, 6-2, and fifth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Sandrine Testud of France.
Graf, playing in her second tournament since her first-round loss at Wimbledon to American Lori McNeil and her semifinal defeat by Frenchwoman Mary Pierce at the French Open, is still having to explain those setbacks despite winning the San Diego tournament two weeks ago.
"I started out the year really well and didn't lose a match until April," said Graf, the defending champion here. The German's match record for the year is now 48-3.
"I just played two players who played great and I didn't play too well (at the French Open and Wimbledon). Sure I lost twice, but give me a break."
At 25, Graf is in her 12th year on the tour. She is beginning to think beyond tennis, as she mentioned after beating the 41st- ranked Cacic in 56 minutes. "If I'm going to have a different life outside tennis," she said, "I should probably start thinking about it pretty soon."
Sabatini's victory over Testud came in her first match since losing to American Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round at Wimbledon. Now ranked number 10, Sabatini hasn't won a tournament since the Italian Open in May 1992.
Agassi upset
In New Haven, Connecticut, Andre Agassi was upset by Dutchman Jan Siemerink in the second round of the $1.04 million Volvo International Tennis Tournament, then blasted "circus" conditions at the tourney.
After losing to Siemerink 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, Agassi criticized the new ATP ruling inaugurated at this tournament which allows the playing of music between games.
"This is a joke and embarrassment to the game," said Agassi. "Are the people here to hear music or to watch tennis? It was a circus out there.
"If any another tournament does this, I would quit the tournament. I can't say how disappointed I am that I chose to come here as a warmup for the U.S. Open."
Siemerink, coming off a two-month layoff because of a knee injury, dominated the match with his strong service.
Even Agassi conceded: "He served incredibly well at the right times."
Ivan Lendl, a 34-year-old pro whose biggest tennis achievements are well in the past, proved he still has a competitive spark.
The 10th-seeded Lendl, a former champion here and a four-time world number one, had little trouble conquering young Czech David Rikl 6-4, 6-2.
As for a career timetable, Lendl says he has none. "I'd like to continue playing as long as I'm having fun -- and today I was having fun," he said.
Two other seeded players were eliminated. Dutchman Paul Haarhuis, seeded ninth, fell to 20-year-old American Vince Spadea 6-3, 6-2. U.S. veteran Brad Gilbert, the 12th seed, was ousted by Wayne Black of Zimbabwe 6-3, 6-0.
It was the first career win over a seeded player for Spadea, a second-year pro. "I made a good percentage of my first serves, I returned well and I moved well," he said.
Sixth-seeded Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who had a bye in the first round, was the first to enter the third round as he overpowered American Robbie Weiss 7-6, 6-1.