Yayuk reaches Edgbaston semis

Sat, 13 Jun 1998 | Source: REUTERS

BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters): World number nine Irina Spirlea of Rumania again showed her dislike for grass courts as she was beaten 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 by sixth seed Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia in the quarterfinal of Edgbaston Classic women's tennis tournament yesterday.

Yayuk, who eliminated Spirlea in the semifinal a year ago, looked more determined than her Rumanian opponent in taking the opening set.

Second seed Spirlea rallied to take the second but then faltered again in the decider to allow the Indonesian to book a last-four berth.

Yayuk will meet seventh seed Elena Likhovtseva, of Russia, who beat Belgium's Dominique van Roost, seeded four, 6-3, 6-4 in another quarterfinal match.

The other semifinal will pit French defending champion Nathalie Tauziat, who beat Australia's Kerry-Anne Guse 6-2, 6-3 yesterday, against former world number one Steffi Graf.

At the Queen's Club men's tournament, world number one Pete Sampras suffered an upset 3-6, 2-6 defeat by Australian double specialist Mark Woodforde yesterday.

View JSON | Print