Tears fall as RI loses Fed Cup match against Switzerland
Tears fall as RI loses Fed Cup match against Switzerland
JAKARTA (JP): Yayuk Basuki bid an emotional farewell to the
Fed Cup tennis championship yesterday after a plucky Indonesian
side fell 2-3 to Switzerland.
Making her 12th Fed Cup appearance, Yayuk displayed an
excellent tennis that has scalped a number of the world's top
players. World number 17 Martina Hingis also came under the knife
when Yayuk scored a memorable 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 victory, giving
Indonesia a 2-1 lead early in the day.
The home team celebrations were short-lived when Patty
Schnyder put the Swiss back on track by beating Liza Andriyani 6-
2, 2-6, 6-1. Switzerland then sealed Indonesia's fate in the
decisive doubles match, which saw a partnership of Hingis and
Schnyder outclassing the Indonesian tandem of Yayuk and Romana
Tedjakusuma 6-3, 6-2.
Indonesia now drops down to the Fed Cup's Asia Pacific
regional qualifying zone, its worst standing since 1992. Yayuk
helped her team reach Fed Cup quarterfinals in 1991.
"I'm not happy but am proud of the efforts we made. Our
opponents are much better then us, although we did have a chance
to win," Yayuk said in a press conference.
The conference turned sad when Yayuk started to shed tears
after answering a request for her opinion of her juniors' Fed Cup
prospects in the coming years.
"In the last moment of my tennis career, I just hope to see
one of my juniors ..." Yayuk said, failing to follow up her
response.
Yayuk, now ranked 28th in the world, plans to retire next year
due to family commitments.
Romana shared Yayuk's mourning when a number of journalists
pinned their queries on her hasty preparations for the match.
Romana, who rose into the world's top 90 in 1993, has been
inactive in professional tennis for the past 12 months.
Non-playing captain Suharyadi, however, defended his decision
to let Romana play. "We needed her in such an uneasy situation.
She played well, I think," Suharyadi said.
The duo of Yayuk and Romana stretched the Argentinean team of
Gabriela Sabatini and Patricia Tarabini to the limit, before
losing the crucial match that gave Argentina a 3-2 win here last
year.
Hingis looked as though she was struggling against a seasoned
Yayuk from the start. The 15-year-old Swiss trailed 2-4 in the
first set, but managed to combine speed and accuracy to take the
set.
Yayuk, despite a string of unnecessary mistakes, took control
of the match in the next two sets, hitting every return to keep
Hingis on the run.
A frustrated Hingis was seen several times throwing her racket
and hitting it on the court in exasperation. It was Yayuk's drive
to end the match as quickly as possible that saved Hingis from a
love set in the decider.
Yayuk attributed her victory to "very good concentration" and
12 years of Fed Cup experience. "I myself was surprised I could
play that well," Yayuk said. "I think I won because I was more
focused on the game."
It was sweet revenge for Yayuk, who lost to the same opponent
in the first-round of a tournament in Hilton Head, North Carolina
last March.
Hingis said after the match that Yayuk "played a very smart
game".
"I did not know what to do. I just could not play the game,"
she said. She added that Yayuk played more comfortably at home
than at other tournaments. (arf/amd)
Semis -- Page 13