Yayuk, Sanches-Vicario to play dobles in Bali

JAKARTA (JP): Former three-time French Open winner Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario has been confirmed to take part in the US$170,000 Sanex WTA championship, at which she will also team up with Indonesian Yayuk Basuki in the doubles.

The three-tier tournament, which will be her comeback after a three year absence, will be held in Bali from Sept. 23 to Sept. 30.

Sanchez-Vicario, the world number 21 from Spain, will lead a pack of world stars, whose rankings are inside the world's top 100. Among them are Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, Marlene Weingartner of Germany, Rita Grande of Italy, Mariana Diaz-Olivia of Argentina and Meilen Tu of the United States.

Indonesia will be represented by Wynne Prakusya and junior Wimbledon champion Angelique Wijaya, who both have been granted wild cards to play in the main draw.

"For me, this is a golden opportunity to play before my own fans after three years," Wynne told a news conference here on Wednesday.

Wynne was fresh from her trip to New York, where she made her U.S. Open debut.

"To play in the main round of the Sanex (tour) is a rare opportunity for me. I will be striving to get into the quarters and possibly the semifinals," she said.

Also present at the conference were Benny Mailili, representing the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti), Andi Chandra, Margot Klerkx, both from the sponsor, and Yayuk.

The main draw, which sees 30 players in competition, will include the winners from the WTA tournaments in St. Gaudens, France, and Modena, Italy, both held in July.

Yayuk is not going to play in the singles, and the Bali meet will mark her second partnership with Sanchez-Vicario after the Princess Cup in Tokyo in 1997, where they lost in the opening round at the expense of Ai Sugiyama and Monica Seles.

"I learned from the tournament director about the plan to bring in Sanchez-Vicario for Bali. They want me to play with her. They also contacted Sanchez-Vicario about the plan.

"I met her in Toronto (at the Canadian Open) and we agreed to play together," said Yayuk, who at one stage broke into the world's 20 in her singles career.

Yayuk, now outside 200 in the rankings, said that she would revel in working together with the Spanish star in the championship, picking the pairs Rita Grande/Alexandra Fusai and Wynne Prakusya/Janet Lee as potential threats.

"They have been looking stronger from past tournaments," she said.

The Bali event will be followed by the fifth-category Wismilak International in Surabaya, scheduled for Oct. 24 to Nov. 4. The tournament provides $110,000 in prize money. (01)