Is Yayuk ready to make her move?

By Bruce Emond > //10pt ML

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki has the tennis world at her fingertips. The only question remaining is how much she really wants the glory.

Few tennis players are blessed with her talent. Yayuk's artistry is a rare blend of power and finesse, a class above the pigtailed teen phenoms of women's tennis who stand glued to the baseline and pound away until their opponents fall under the barrage.

At her best she is a gifted touch artist. With her explosive, compact service motion, Yayuk has a cannonball service, sends her opponent scurrying around the court with searing sliced backhands or thumping forehands, and finishes the point by effortlessly flicking a crosscourt drop volley.

Occasionally she commits excruciatingly bad errors. During the Danamon Indonesia Women's Open here last month, Yayuk would sometimes follow a brilliant shot with an embarrassing error.

The problem is that she is endowed with such variety of strokes that at times she seems confused over which shot to choose.

Crossroads

Yayuk now finds herself at an interesting crossroads. At age 22, she has risen to an all-time personal high of 30 on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) computer, become the first Asian woman to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon two consecutive years, and won more than US$500,000 from tournament play in only four years as a professional.

The Danamon was her sixth WTA tour title, which is more than many top 20 players achieve in their careers. Granted, all of her wins have been in Asia and in $100,000 tournaments, the lowest tier of competition on the tour.

That said, it should be noted that only Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and the now retired Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere have won at least one WTA event in each of the last four years. Yayuk has wins over Anke Huber, Magdalena Maleeva, Mary Pierce and Nathalie Tauziat, all ranked much higher than her.

Breakthrough

There is no doubt Yayuk has the talent to break into the top 20. In interviews she often mentions this as her goal, one she hopes to attain by the end of this year. Now is the time for her breakthrough.

But she has remained stagnant at around 40 in the rankings since bursting onto the tennis scene in 1991. She will be 23 later this year, no longer young in a sport dominated by teenage girls. We often forget that Tracy Austin, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf were ranked number one in the world by the age of 18.

Her game still needs improvement. Her sliced backhand is a weapon on grass and fast courts as it keeps low and is ideal for approach shots to the net. But on slower surfaces, particularly clay and carpet, it merely keeps the ball in play.

Yayuk needs to hone a topspin backhand which is consistent. Several times during the Danamon tournament her attempts at topspin backhands landed in the bottom of the net. She did not have the confidence to try it again, falling back on her trusted slice shot.

Yayuk's forehand, hit hard with little topspin, is spectacular when it hits the target. Too often, however, Yayuk appears to go for too much. As Jennifer Capriati remarked after beating Yayuk in the Olympics in 1992, Yayuk loses as many points as she wins on the forehand.

Comebacks

Other players have made comebacks after injury or years in a slump. Evonne Goolagong Cawley came back to win Wimbledon in 1980 after having a child and suffering through painful ankle injuries.

In 1981, Martina Navratilova was an abject figure on the tour. I remember watching on TV a tired, saddened Navratilova leaving the Center Court after losing a semifinal to Hana Mandlikova.

Hounded by the press about her lesbianism, Navratilova seemed to be going through the motions on the tennis court. But she recouped, put herself on a revolutionary diet and fitness regimen, and won almost everything for six years.

I have only seen a few players with the flowing natural talent of Yayuk. These include Cawley, Navratilova, Mandlikova, Jana Novotna and Gabriela Sabatini (although she is not a natural volleyer).

Another was a German named Bettina Bunge. With her classic sliced backhand and stylish service motion, Bunge played a very similar game to Yayuk. Except for some tournament wins and a semifinal showing at the 1982 Wimbledon, Bunge never made it to the top. With all her abundant, mesmerizing skills, she did not seem to have the perseverance to fulfill her talent.

A player at the Danamon tournament said she had seen Bunge in Miami recently. She agreed that Bunge and Yayuk share similar talent but quickly reminded me that this is not enough to make it to the ranks of Graf and Seles.

"There are lots of talented players today," she reminded me. "What counts in the long run is how much someone really wants to work for their goals. Steffi has incredible talent but she also wants to win so much. She still cries after a loss."

Her reminder, uttered before she lost to Yayuk herself, is one we would all do well to remember as the Indonesian star begins her bid for the top.