Yayuk makes headline with upset victory

Yayuk makes headline with upset victory

MONTREAL (Agencies): Indonesian tennis star Yayuk Basuki should be all smiles when she retires from the tennis circuit at the end of this season after scoring her greatest career win in the second round of the US$926,250 Canadian Open women's tennis championships on Wednesday.

World number 28 Yayuk shrugged off the rankings separating her from world number four Iva Majoli of Croatia by beating her in an upset 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 second-round win.

The loss added to Majoli's major setbacks since winning the Toray Pan Pacific title in February, which raised her ranking to number four. She reached the finals of three consecutive tournaments in February -- winning two -- but none since.

Majoli's last failure was in the Olympic Games, losing to eventual gold medalist Davenport in the quarterfinals.

Widely known as a potential giant killer, Yayuk has brought a number of world top ten players to their knees since she turned pro in October 1990. The list includes Argentina's Gabriela Sabatini and American Lindsay Davenport.

Apart from raising her ranking, the 25-year-old Indonesian can now raise her hopes for a morale boosting prologue before she enters the last Grand Slam tournament of the season, the U.S. Open, at the end of this month.

Fourth-seed German Anke Huber was another victim of an upset on Wednesday, crashing to American qualifier Kimberly Po, 6-4, 6- 4. Po had beaten Canadian Cristina Popescu in the first round.

Second seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, playing in her first match since losing at last week's Olympics, easily reached the third round with a straight-set victory over Italy's Nathalie Baudone on Wednesday night.

Sanchez Vicario, who lost the gold medal to Davenport at Atlanta, did not drop a game in beating Baudone, 6-0, 6-0, in a lopsided match that lasted just over one hour.

Ranked second in the world, Sanchez Vicario has reached five finals this year, winning the Family Circle Cup Tennis in April and the Hamburg Open in May.

Jennifer Capriati continued her solid play with a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 victory over fellow unseeded American Lori McNeil in the second round. Capriati, once ranked as high as sixth in the world, upset 11th seed Irina Spirlea of Romania in straight sets in the opening round.

Seeds stroll

Meanwhile in Mason, Ohio, Andre Agassi, fresh from winning an Olympic gold medal, posted a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 second round victory over Magnus Larsson of Sweden to open the defense of his title at the $2.2 million ATP Championship.

"I kind of feel like in most cases it would be a let-down (playing Cincinnati after winning the Olympics)," Agassi said. "But I haven't played a lot of tennis this year, so it has been kind of nice to keep that momentum. I find myself extremely motivated and I feel myself getting better every day."

Second-seeded Thomas Muster was the only player who seemed oblivious to the heat, demolishing 217th-ranked qualifier Wojtek Kowalski of Poland 6-1, 6-1 in their second round encounter.

One month to the day of his winning Wimbledon, seventh-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands posted a hard-fought 7-6 (10- 8), 7-5 win over 69th-ranked Vince Spadea of the U.S.