Wynne falls short of Toray singles main stage
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Wynne Prakusya has failed to maintain her winning momentum at the Toray Pan Pacific tennis tournament, losing her qualifying final match to American Alexandra Stevenson in Tokyo on Monday.
The Indonesian crashed out 6-7 (7-5) 4-6 in a match lasting one hour and 17 minutes, Benny Mailili, from the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti), said from Tokyo in a press release.
"Wynne has done her best. It's all she could do. She was really outclassed by her opponent," Benny said.
"Wynne showed she has good mental strength in three days of qualifying matches. She concentrated well during her matches. It's just that Alexandra Stevenson is out of her league," he said.
Despite the loss, Wynne still has something to look forward to, as she and Janet Lee of Chinese Taipei are assured of a place in the main draw of the doubles.
Their next opponent won't be known until after the qualifying stage has been completed.
Wynne found herself three games down early in the match, thanks to Stevenson's three aces in each game.
She pulled back in the following three games, eventually hitting the lead as she forced the 1999 Wimbledon semi-finalist to play from the baseline.
The scoresheet showed that the margin between the two was never greater than one game, as the lead constantly changed hands.
Wynne managed to deal with Stevenson's troubling serves and had a chance of winning the set when she led 6-5.
"But Stevenson was able to capitalize on Wynne's weak serves with her forehand crosses and one-handed backhand slice to the left corner," Benny said.
Wynne jumped two points ahead in the tiebreak, but could not hang on. She was beaten 5-7 with Stevenson slamming an ace on the final point.
Games initially went with serve in the second set, until the Indonesian was broken to give Stevenson a 5-4 lead.
Stevenson did not squander her opportunity, managing to hold serve and ending Wynne's resistance to take the set 6-4, finishing with two aces.
"Her serve has a speed of 170 kilometers per hour. Her explosive forehands, frequently crossed short next to the net, were beyond Wynne's reach," Benny said, adding that this kind of shot had claimed a big scalp recently in the form of Jennifer Capriati at a warmup tournament in Sydney. Capriati then bounced back to claim the Australian Open title in Melbourne at the weekend.
Wynne conceded that her American opponent was a good player with punishing groundstrokes and slices.
"She is impressive. Her slice especially when she gets her first serve in is unpredictable. I had the chance to take points when she fumbled her first serves," Wynne said.
"I have tried my best. Despite the failure, I am happy that I will return home with an increase of 16 points in the rankings because I lost in the final of qualification," she said.