Yayuk Basuki sets sights on Wimbledon quarterfinals

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.