Yayuk seeded first in Beijing

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki is favored to retain her title in the US$100,000 Nokia Open women's tennis championships, which begin in Beijing this week.

Organizers announced on Sunday that world number 25 Yayuk topped the seeding list in the 32-field tournament, the only professional tennis tournament held in China.

Yayuk is expected to meet Belgian Dominique Monami, whose ranking is 37 places below the Indonesian, in the final on Sunday. If she wins, Yayuk will claim her first title of the year.

Taiwanese Wang Shi-ting, Karin KschwendtIf of Germany, Lea Ghirardi of France and Petra Kamstra of the Czech Republic are also making a trip to Beijing. (amd)