Japan's Sawamatsu wins Danamon Women's Open

JAKARTA (JP): Japanese Naoko Sawamatsu won her first title this year after beating compatriot Yuka Yoshida 6-3, 6-2 at the US$107,500 Danamon Indonesia Women's Open yesterday.

In the doubles, fourth seeded Kerry-Anne Guse/Kristine Radford of Australia won against Yoshida and Lenka Nemeckova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

Playing at the Senayan rebound ace court, Sawamatsu -- world ranked 43 -- started the match from baselines nicely. She only gave Yoshida one point before leading 5-1.

Seventh seeded Yoshida, world ranked 90, earned two more points to narrow her loss 5-3 but Sawamatsu, who was much too strong for her, ended the match 6-3 in 39 minutes.

In the second set, Yoshida took control to lead 2-0. But more- experienced Sawamatsu, who ranked 14th in 1995, only needed 32 minutes to take back control of the game and concluded it 6-2. Sawamatsu gained a $17,700 first prize and a replica of the Tien Soeharto Cup.

"I played really well today and I'm very happy to win this tournament. I don't think I won easily because it was a very long match," Sawamatsu told a post-match conference.

"Yuka played very good. She's getting better and better every time. I think it will be hard for me to beat her in the future," she added.

Sawamatsu, who aims to return to the top 40 this year, expressed hope to return for the tournament next year. She will fly to Italy for the Italian Open in Rome next week.

Yoshida said she tried to play more aggressively but failed and made many unforced errors.

"She never missed my shots. On the other hand, I made unforced errors because I tried to win quickly," she said.

It was Yoshida's fourth loss to Sawamatsu, but her highest achievement in her professional career pocketing $8,350.

After taking a 45-minute break, Yoshida and partner Nemeckova had to use all their energy against Guse/Radford in a two-hour- and-15-minute match.

With around 800 people, who attended the free-of-charge tournament, throwing their weight behind them, Yoshida/Nemeckova worked hard to block Guse's and Radford's volleys and smashes. But the Australian pair were too strong in the first set and won 6-4.

In the second set, Guse/Radford cannonaded Yoshida/Nemeckova until they led 5-2. Surprisingly, Yoshida/Nemeckova could always return their attacks and equalized to 5-5. They ended it 7-5.

"We just tried to play high lobs and avoid them to get very close to the net," Nemeckova said.

"I was a bit angry with the situation because I wanted to finish the match in straight sets, especially because Kristine had a flight to catch. In the end, we were very lucky to win," Guse said.

In the third set, Yoshida/Nemeckova started to make unforced errors in big points and lost 5-7.

"I really wanted to win so much but I made errors instead," Yoshida said.

Guse/Radford brought home $5,860 while Yoshida/Nemeckova took $3,440.

"I'm really happy today and I enjoyed playing both singles and doubles although I lost them," Yoshida said.

"I'm also happy with the results because this is my first final in the Corel WTA tour," Nemeckova said.

Yoshida and Nemeckova plan to play together at the Italian Open in Rome next week. (yan)

Photos on Page 13