Navratilova to meet Yayuk in farewell match
JAKARTA (JP): Former world number one Martina Navratilova has decided to include Indonesia as one stop on her world farewell tour. The tour will take Navratilova to five continents and the honor, and match, here have been given to Yayuk Basuki.
"It was Navratilova's choice to play Yayuk here," Eddy Katimansah, secretary general of the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) said during a press conference yesterday.
The exhibition match on Jan. 4 next year will likely overshadow the US$161,000 Indonesia Women's Open which is scheduled for Jan. 2-8. World number 29 Yayuk is one of the seeded players in contention for the title in the country's richest women's tennis tournament organized by Pelti and the Australian Tennis Association.
"It is an exception which has been approved by the world Women's Tennis Council (WTC). Yayuk has formally agreed to this program," was Eddy's explanation as to whether the exhibition match would violate the rules set by the women's tennis body WTA.
Navratilova was elected the president of WTC last year.
She made her first appearance here four years ago in an exhibition match against her predecessor Chris Evert.
Eddy refused to disclose the amount of the appearance money for both the Czech-born American and Indonesia's tennis queen, who will meet for the fourth time.
"An underwriter company will be responsible for that," said Eddy. The company will also be responsible for any unforeseen losses if Navratilova fails to make her trip here.
The exhibition match is officially entitled Danamon Navratilova Farewell Tour.
"The match won't be just a friendly one," Eddy said. Yayuk is looking forward to taking her revenge on the 38-year-old tennis great who beat her in each of their four encounters. Argentinian Gabriela Sabatini, who played Yayuk in an exhibition here last month, was the last to spoil Navratilova's farewell party when they met in the lucrative Virginia Slims Championships in New York recently.
World number eight Navratilova is scheduled to arrive here on Jan. 3, after her trip to Hong Kong for another farewell tour.
Tennis party
The exhibition match is one of the three programs in the two- week tennis party held in conjunction with Indonesia's 50th anniversary celebration. The US$313,000 Indonesia Men's Open will start just after the women's tournament.
Eddy said the women's championships, which outclasses the same event held last year, will replace a tournament in Brisbane which used to serve as a warm-up for the Australia Open, the first Grand Slam tournament in world tennis annual calendar.
"Australia has agreed to bring the tournament here for five successive years," said Eddy. He, however, refused to comment on how much the transfer costs were.
Having a rich tournament played in Senayan tennis indoor stadium, Indonesia will lose its right to organize the $100,000 WTA-sanctioned event next year. Yayuk triumphed in all three editions of the tier IV championships since 1991.
"Australia and the world tennis body (ITF) are helping us to regain the right in 1996," said Eddy. Another $100,000-class tournament was held in Surabaya, East Java early this month, but Eddy said it was just an event transferred from Hong Kong.
German world number 19 Sabine Hack was the only world top 20 players who has confirmed an entry to the 56-field Indonesia Women's Open. "We have also invited Natalia Zvereva of Belarus, American Mary Joe Fernandez and another German, Anke Huber," said Eddy. (amd)