Liza to meet Wang at Danamon Open

JAKARTA (JP): Liza Andriyani of Indonesia will challenge top seed Wang Shi-Ting of Chinese Taipei on Thursday in the second round of the 1997 Danamon Women's Open.

Liza, who has a wild card entry, beat qualifier Jane Taylor of Australia 6-4, 7-5 in the US$107,500 tournament's first round yesterday.

The 18-year-old Liza fought hard to beat Taylor. She led 4-3 in the first set before Taylor equalized 4-4. Liza then broke Taylor's serve to win the set 6-4.

In the second set, Liza led 4-2 before Taylor took control to lead 5-4. Liza, world ranked 497, equalized at 5-5 and went on to win the set 7-5.

Liza said, "Winning today means a lot since I gained a wild card into the tournament."

Liza said she lost her cool when the score reached 4-2 in the second set, costing her the lead.

"I wasn't sure that I could win the second set," she said.

Liza said she would try to learn from her match against Wang tomorrow.

On her defeat, Taylor said: "I was too careful and made many unforced errors. I also lost concentration."

In another match yesterday, Wang defeated Japan's Mara Endo 6- 2, 6-1 in 45 minutes.

"I'm very satisfied with the results. It's much faster than I thought before the match began," Wang said.

Wang lost to Endo in a Japan satellite tournament in 1991.

"Of course I want to win again against Liza. But the people will support her as they support Yayuk. I'll just do my best," she said on her meeting with Liza.

Wang, world ranked 38, said that, although she became the top seed after Yayuk's withdrawal, she still faced many tough challengers in the tournament.

Yayuk withdrew because of a multiple tendinitis injury.

Wang said, "It's still a long way to be the winner. Even if Yayuk didn't play, the tournament is still strong.

"I was a little bit tired because I have played in five tournaments in a row and I just wanted to go home to see my family," she added.

Nancy Feber of Belgium, world ranked 136, upset third-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, world ranked 53, 7-6 (10-8), 6- 1.

"I lost because Feber performed better. I played bad and made many unforced errors," Tanasugarn said.

Indonesia's Mimma Chernovita, who also had a wild card, failed to perform well, losing easily to Jane Chi of the USA 6-1, 6-0.

Mimma said, "My play was terrible. I think I have lost my motivation in tennis. I told myself that I would concentrate on my study if I failed to be Indonesia's second best after Yayuk."

Mimma, world ranked 730, joined the national Fed Cup team for its tie in New Zealand last month. (yan)