Yayuk Basuki might carve out history at Wimbledon
Yayuk Basuki might carve out history at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England (Agencies): Indonesian tennis queen Yayuk Basuki might carve out a piece of history with a place in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon tennis championships today.
Playing on grass, which is her favorite surface, world number 45 Yayuk faces a tough hurdle on the road to her dreams of winning the last eight round for the first time ever in the form of Gigi Fernandez, the American world's number one doubles player.
Today's match against Fernandez will be Yayuk's third successive fourth round appearance in her four visits at Wimbledon. For the past two years Yayuk made tennis history by becoming one of only two Asian women, along with Japanese Naoko Sawamatsu, to reach the last 16 of the tournament.
The 24-year-old Indonesian didn't break a sweat as she used her powerful serve and volley to score a 6-0, 6-2 victory in the one-sided match against American Ann Grossman, an opponent she had already beaten twice, on Saturday. While, Fernandez came back to defeat stubborn Mana Endo of Japan in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6- 3.
Saturday marked a glorious day for Yayuk when she formed a winning team with Japanese Nana Miyagi. They earned a 6-3, 6-3 win over the mixed nationality pair of Australian Michelle Jaggard-Lai and American Marianne Werdel to advance to the third round.
People's favorites Martina Navratilova and Andre Agassi can heave a sigh of relief on surviving the first week of the grand slam tournament which was littered with the debris of 15 fallen seeds.
Navratilova, at 37 seeking her 10th singles title here, has had an easy ride, dropping only 12 games in the first three rounds.
Agassi, the straggly-haired 1992 champion, has suffered more, scraping through a five-set second-round thriller with Venezuelan Nicolas Pereira.
Fourth seed Navratilova, who after 22 years has finally overcome crowd hostility to take her place as sentimental favorite, says playing Wimbledon gets no easier on the nerves.
"It gets worse," she said after her 6-3, 6-2 drubbing of third-round opponent Linda Harvey-Wild on Saturday.
"It's not something you get used to and say "Oh piece of cake'."
Navratilova, who plays big-serving Czech Helena Sukova in the fourth round today, receives a standing ovation every time she appears on her beloved Center Court.
Men's singles
Agassi too likes the baseline but also has the speed around the court and the variety of shots to unnerve any opponent and delight the crowd.
The 24-year-old 12th seed, whose appearances are accompanied by squeals of delight from pre-pubescent girls, wiggles his bottom, bares his torso and blows kisses to the fans, ensuring a near-hysterical reception.
Today he meets the dour speed-server Todd Martin in a clash of styles. Martin, seeded sixth and 1.98-meter tall relies on his serve, Agassi on improvisation.
Despite the upsets of the past few days, with second seed Michael Stich and third seed Stefan Edberg bundled out of the tournament, few would bet against world number one Pete Sampras successfully defending his title.
"I'm confident but you can't take anything for granted," Sampras said on Saturday. "There are still the Agassis and the Beckers and Ivanisevic out there."
Boris Becker, seeded seventh, was the last man to win Wimbledon twice in a row in 1985 and 1986. Goran Ivanisevic, the volatile Croat with a blistering serve, was runner-up in 1992.