Wynne falters in first round

Agencies, Jakarta

Wynne Prakusya of Indonesia tumbled out of the Wismilak International tennis tournament in the opening round after losing to Anca Barna of Germany 5-7, 6-7 (4/7) at the Hotel Grand Hyatt tennis courts in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Monday.

The exit means that Wynne failed to avenge her recent defeat by the same player in Indonesia's 2-3 loss to Germany in the Federation Cup play-offs in Jakarta in July.

Wynne was beaten by eventual runner-up Conchita Martinez in the second round of last year's Wismilak International.

Meanwhile, Austria's Barbara Schett had to save five match points before earning her spot in the second round of the US$225,000 WTA event, AFP reported.

Austrian Schett eventually beat Akiko Morigami of Japan 6-7 (2/7), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) after nearly three hours in a finely- balanced contest.

In the second set, Morigami wasted five match points on the Austrian's serve at 5-4 to allow Schett to eventually level at one set a piece.

The final set could have gone either way with Schett unable to serve out the match at both 5-4 and 6-5.

Morigami led by 5-2 in the tiebreak but Schett held on to win five consecutive points to clinch a place in the next round.

Morigami's compatriot Saori Obata had better fortunes, beating eighth seed American Ashley Harkleroad 6-3, 6-2.

2001 champion Angelique 'Angie' Widjaja, the only other Indonesian in the main round, will take to the court on Wednesday against Dinara Safina of Russia.

Angie defeated Safina in the 2001 Junior Wimbledon final.

While Wynne has had to abandon her Wismilak hopes, Indonesian veteran Yayuk Basuki displayed her tennis ability, which once pushed her into the world's top 20 during her career.

In Bali, she did it in the doubles, teaming up with compatriot Diana Julianto. The pair, representing different generations, reached the main draw after beating the Croatian/Japanese pairing of Ivana Abramovic and Seiko Okamoto, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The Indonesians were sent to every corner of the court in the first set by their opponents' hard serves and hard hitting, Antara reported.

However, their confidence grew in the second set and continued on into the third for a deserved victory.

In another match, Emilie Loit/Nicole Pratt (France/Australia) beat the Chinese pairing of Ting Li/Tian Tian Sun 6-4, 6-3.