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)
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