Liza fails to stop Wang at Danamon Women's Open

JAKARTA (JP): Although Indonesia's Liza Andriyani failed to beat top seed Wang Shi Ting of Chinese Taipei at the US$107,500 Danamon Women's Open yesterday, she received a standing ovation from almost 200 spectators for trying.

The 17-year-old Liza began badly, winning only one game in the first set.

"I am a late starting player. In the first set, her balls were so deep that she could dictate to me. I didn't have a chance to attack back," Liza said.

Wang, ranked 38th in the world, said: "I think she was nervous in the first set and made many unforced errors."

In the second set, Wang led 2-0 before Liza equalized 2-2. Wang then took the score to 4-2.

Wang received a controversial out call when she was leading 40-30 in the next game. Then Liza, who trains at the Van der Meer tennis camp in South Carolina, fought back with cross forehands at the net to lead the game.

Liza won the second set 6-4 with a killer forehand volley down the left side of Wang's court. The spectators stood up and yelled, "Liza... yeah... Liza..."

Wang said, "I was a little bit angry and disappointed with the call."

Liza said, "My coach and I had decided to use my cross forehands before the net to attack her."

In the deciding set, Liza and Wang played their best. Wang, who has been a pro since 1991, concentrated throughout and won 6- 3.

Liza said, "My concentration was disrupted in the third set due to the 10-minute toilet break. She played better and I became very doubtful about my strokes."

Wang said she was happy with her performance.

"I think I was a little bit tired because I had to play doubles until 10 p.m. yesterday. The 10-minute break really helped me to get fit again.

"Liza played very well today and I think she could be a good player in the future," Wang said.

Liza said she was happy with her first experience against a top 40 player in a four tier tournament.

"I was very happy with my performance. I had given 100 percent of my skill and I think she also did. I admit that she's much better than I am," Liza said.

"I played very loose and I didn't have any pressure. Although I made many unforced errors, I think I performed well enough today," she said.

Liza said she should have worked harder on her serves and that she hoped to reach the top 200 next year.

"My target is to reach the top 200 and I have to play in $10,000 and $25,000 tournaments in Australia, the USA and Wimbledon," she said.

Liza said she also wanted to compete in the national selection for the Super Eight team in May and June.

"I also want to play at the SEA Games," she said, smiling.

Wang will challenge Yuko Yoshida of Japan, who beat Jane Chi of the USA 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 yesterday.

"Tomorrow will be a good match. I beat her once and lost to her once last year," Wang said.

Sixth-seeded Rita Grande of Italy, who defeated Lenka Nemeckova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-0 will meet Nancy Feber of Belgium, who beat Haruka Inoue of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

The Indonesian Tennis Association said yesterday it had transferred Rp 25 million ($10,400) to Yayuk Basuki's account to support her program to reach the world's top 20.

Yayuk, world ranked 26, pulled out of the tournament because of a multiple tendinitis injury. (yan)