Yayuk Basuki fails to reach Wimbledon semifinals
Yayuk Basuki fails to reach Wimbledon semifinals
LONDON (AFP): Third-seed Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic cruised into the women's singles semifinals at Wimbledon on Wednesday when she defeated Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 on the No. 1 show court.
Novotna, 28, will now play either eighth-seeded Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez Vicario or Nathalie Tauziat of France for a place in Saturday's final.
The unseeded 26-year-old Yayuk, who had reached the fourth- round four times in her six previous visits, became the first Indonesian ever to reach the last-eight at a Grand Slam tournament by defeating Canada's Patricia Hy-Boulais on Tuesday.
Novotna, having treated her fans to every fright in the book in her thrilling three-set fourth-round victory over Mary Joe Fernandez, is seen by many as the one player who may stop world No. 1 Martina Hingis from becoming Wimbledon's youngest singles winner this century next weekend.
Novotna is best remembered as the player who cried on the shoulder of the duchess of Kent after losing the 1993 final to Steffi Graf.
But this year the player with the finest serve-and-volley style in women's tennis is out to prove once and for all that she can win a major title.
"People always get the wrong impression about me," she said after beating Fernandez 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 .
"They accuse me of 'choking' or 'being afraid to win'. But I don't care about that anymore. I know myself how I feel and that's what matters.
"It is wrong to think I can never win on a big occasion. I am the No. 3 player in the world and I have been in the top-10 for 10 years. I think that proves a lot."
Novotna, who injured her right knee in a doubles match 24 hours earlier, slipped again and hurt her left knee playing against Fernandez.
Stich
Michael Stich moved three victories away from repeating his 1991 Wimbledon singles win on Tuesday -- and made it clear that, win or lose, he would never return as a player.
The 192cm German player, who rose to No. 2 in the rankings in 1993 but who has slipped to 88th in what he has said would be his last season on the Tour, reached the last eight of the men's singles at the All England Club on Tuesday when he defeated Australian Mark Woodforde in four sets.
But he quickly scotched any suggestions that if he went on to win the event he might have second thoughts about retiring.
Stich made the decision to quit the game because of persistent pain in his shoulder.
"The pain comes and goes," he said after his latest success against Woodforde. But he stressed: "My decision to retire won't be affected, however, whatever my result here. And I have no intention of playing at the United States Open.
"I would love to win this title," he said, adding with a mischievous grin: "Then I could see next year what the All England Club is going to do because the defending champion cannot open the tournament on center-court on the first Monday."
The Austrian-based player remains fiercely competitive. He showed the depths of his determination and pursuit of perfection by finishing a shock runner-up to Yevgeny Kafelnikov at the 1996 French Open despite arriving for the tournament with no practice after one of his many enforced injury breaks.
Stich, the winner of 18 singles titles and nine doubles crowns during his career, was late joining the ATP Tour. He made the decision in 1988 and had he not done so he might well have become a professional footballer.
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