Yayuk Basuki sets sights on Wimbledon quarterfinals

By Bruce Emond

Jakarta (JP): Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki wants to take her career one step further at Wimbledon this year by becoming the first Asian woman to reach the quarterfinals of the world's most prestigious tournament.

Yayuk and Japan's Naoko Sawamatsu are the only two Asian women to have reached the fourth round, or final 16 players, in Wimbledon's 111 years. The Yogyakarta native has made the fourth round in three consecutive years since 1992. Hers is one of the most impressive records among the women players to appear at Wimbledon.

Yayuk has shown that her grass-court success is no fluke by doing consistently well at Eastbourne, the traditional women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon. Last year, she beat top-ranked Helena Sukova of the Czech Republic on the way to a semifinal berth.

And this year she achieved a remarkable win over American Zina Garrison-Jackson, the 1991 Wimbledon runner-up. Yayuk's impressive run ended when she had to give up to Germany's Christine Singer in the quarterfinals.

Garrison-Jackson is expected to retire this year, but she is still considered one of the top grass-court players.

One fan of Yayuk's play is Russell Barlow, Consultant to the ATP Tour World Doubles Championship, which is scheduled for Jakarta this November, and a former player. Barlow says Yayuk's athletic ability and her use of the slice is the ideal profile of the grass-court player.

"Grass-court tennis is about explosive athletic ability, of being able to adjust quickly to low balls and bad bounces," Barlow says. "Yayuk can do that because she has what we call 'great hands', meaning she has good reflexes, coordination and an instinctive touch for volleying. There are very few women players with that talent."

Yayuk finds herself with a tougher draw this year than in 1993 and 1994, when she met seeded player Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria in the early rounds and upset her both times.

This year, world-ranked 28 Yayuk faces Natalia Medvedev of the Ukraine in the first. Yayuk played her in the first round of Wimbledon last year and defeated her easily in straight sets. Medvedev, younger sister of men's player Andrei Medvedeva, is a good baseliner, but her game becomes unhinged on Wimbledon's fast grass.

Yayuk's prospective opponent in the second round could be made of sterner stuff. She will face either Debbie Graham of the U.S. or Kyoko Nagatsuka of Japan.

Graham is one of the world's fastest servers, but she can be woefully inconsistent, often resorting to hit-or-miss tennis. However, Yayuk is unlikely to find her a pushover.

Nagatsuka has a patient baseline game, which is suited to hard and clay courts, and she reached the fourth round of the French Open in May. Although Yayuk defeated Nagatsuka in the final of the Beijing Open in 1994, the Indonesian could face a few problems when going up against her at Wimbledon.

If she reaches the third round, Yayuk may find herself up against Mary Pierce of France, the Australian Open champion. Like Yayuk, Pierce has something to prove at Wimbledon. Pierce has never played on Wimbledon's grass courts and her pounding baseline strokes require consistent bounces to set up and prepare.