Wynne to face Carlsson in Wismilak 2nd round

Wynne to face Carlsson in Wismilak 2nd round

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): With top seeded players tumbling in the first round of the US$180,000 Wismilak International '99 tennis event here, Indonesian Wynne Prakusya reached the second round after eliminating Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3, 7-5.

Wynne, who received a wild card, played cautiously to win point by point.

"I'm glad I can beat her because in the 1995 Italian Open Junior I lost to her," she said as quoted by tennis observer Benny Mailili, who is also the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) spokesman.

"If both players forced themselves to hit the ball hard, they were likely to make unforced errors. Both players are still young -- they're 18 -- and they still seem to lose control of their emotions, especially in critical situations," Benny said.

Wynne will challenge Sweden's Asa Carlsson, who beat qualifier Annabel Ellwood of Australia 6-2, 6-4.

"Today's win can boost Wynne's motivation to prepare for tomorrow's match. Carlsson is a world-class player with lots of experience," Benny said.

Fourth seeded Anne Kremer of Luxemberg, world number 40, had to bow out to American Erika De Lone 2-6, 1-2 and retired due to injury. De Lone will face Alicia Molik of Australia, who had to work hard to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 over Petra Mandula of Hungary.

Fifth seeded Tatiana Panova of Russia made an early exit after losing 1-6, 3-6 to unseeded Laurence Courtois of Belgium.

Rita Grande of Italy survived her first test over Tina Pisnik of Slovenia to win 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. Grande will challenge second seeded Sylvia Plischke of Austria, who received a bye.

Anastasia Myskina of Russia defeated Adriana Gersi 6-3, 7-5. Her next match is against top seeded Sarah Pitkowski of France, who also received a bye. Olga Barabanschikova of Belarus defeated Patricia Wartusch of Austria 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, while Thailand's Tammarine Tanasugarn defeated qualifier Janet Lee of Chinese Taipei 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

In the doubles, top seeded players Tina Krizan of Slovenia and Wartusch of Austria were upset by unseeded duo Wendy Fix and Julie Scott of the United States 6-1, 6-2.

The tournament, sponsored by Surabaya-based cigarette producer Wismilak, is usually staged in Surabaya. Due to security fears, WTA insisted on moving the event to Kuala Lumpur.

In Perth,Australia, the Indonesian juniors lost to the Dutch team 2-1 in the Under-16 World Youth Cup. Dea Sumantri lost to Inge de Geest 2-6, 4-6, Angelique Widjaja defeated Laurette Van Der Knapp 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and Elsie Tamaela and Van Der Knapp defeated Sumantri and Widjaja 7-6 (7-4), 7-5). (yan)