Injured Fernandez ends Yayuk's run at Wimbledon
Injured Fernandez ends Yayuk's run at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England (Agencies): Indonesian tennis queen Yayuk
Basuki failed in her bid to become the first Asian to reach the
semifinal of the 117-year-old Wimbledon tournament after falling
4-6, 1-6 to an injured American Gigi Fernandez in the fourth
round yesterday.
This means that the 23-year-old Yayuk failed for the third
year in a row to advance past the final 16 here.
She appeared nervous and committed countless unforced errors
throughout the match.
The Puerto Rican-born Fernandez moved around the grass court
gracefully, despite wearing protective wraps around both thighs,
and consistently cut off Yayuk's powerful baseline drives with
some spectacular angled volleying.
The unseeded Fernandez now plays either second-seed and red-
hot favorite Arantxa Sanchez of Spain or compatriot and 1990
finalist Zina Garrison-Jackson for a place in the semifinals.
Fernandez holds the Wimbledon doubles title with Natalia
Zvereva of Belarus and they have been the most successful doubles
partnership in the world for the past three years. Last year they
won all the major titles except the U.S. Open.
She has not been nearly as successful in singles, though she
reached the fourth round in 1987 and 1992.
American teenager Lindsay Davenport stole the limelight when
she powered her way into the last eight by outplaying tenth-seed
Gabriela Sabatini in straight-sets.
The 6-2 (187 cm) 18-year-old Davenport, seeded nine, took
charge of the match from the start and scored an easy 6-1, 6-3
win over the South American who has not won a title since the
1992 Italian Open.
Lori McNeil, who put out world number-one and defending
champion Steffi Graf in the first-round, also swept into the
quarterfinals when she snatched a thrilling 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4)
victory over Argentina's Florencia Labat.
The 30-year-old American now plays Larisa Neiland.
Neiland, ranked 58th, beat South Africa's diminutive 5-2 (158
cm), 14th seed Amanda Coetzer 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The 27-year-old player from Latvia squealed loudly throughout
a tight, two-hour encounter, and although she escaped a
reprimand, she was warned when she lost her calm and hit a ball
on to a neighboring court in the second game of the second set.
Sampras
Meanwhile, title-holder Pete Sampras used his ground stroke
superiority to power past unseeded Czech Daniel Vacek and into
the Wimbledon quarterfinals yesterday.
The 22-year-old American hardly put a foot wrong in a 6-4, 6-
1, 7-6 (7-5) fourth-round victory on the notorious 'graveyard of
champions' number two court, the scene of Michael Stich and Jim
Courier's early defeats last week.
The difference between two of the biggest servers in the game
turned on Sampras's ability to produce the big returns whenever
he had the chance to break.
Sampras, looking unconcerned by the proximity of the noisy and
fidgety fans, hammered down 18 aces and volleyed with majestic
confidence to stay in control against his promising 23-year-old
opponent.
Vacek, who reached the last 16 by upsetting Russian 15th seed
Yevgeny Kalelnikov in the third set, had little success against
the serve of Sampras although he replied with 14 aces.
Sampras will now set up a quarterfinal showdown with fellow
American Michael Chang. Tenth-seed Chang put French Open champion
Sergi Bruguera out of the men's singles competition when he
scored a straight-sets victory.
Chang scored a 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 victory on the number-one
show-court, which resembled a cauldron with temperatures soaring
to over 100 degrees under the fierce sunshine.
Bruguera, the eighth-seed, who needed fourteen sets to reach
the fourth-round, was clearly feeling the effects of his
Championship efforts in the final set.