Jaguar From Asia: The Story Of Yayuk Basuki Becomes The Queen Of Tennis Indonesia

Yayuk Basuki during his match against Monica Celes from the United States at the 1998 Wimbledon championship. (AFP/PASCAL PAVANI)

JAKARTA In Indonesia, tennis is indeed famous for onion children compared to badminton. Tennis is considered a sport of limited circles, while badminton is a populist sport. This condition makes Indonesia's tennis achievements run on the spot, while badminton is classy.

No tennis athlete can penetrate the world's leading championships. Everything changed when Nani Rahayu or Yayuk Basuki was present. Yayuk increases the dignity of Indonesian tennis. There is no spirit. He is able to shine domestically, Asia, to the world. He was also nicknamed the Queen of Tennis Indonesia.

There are no two popularitys of badminton in Indonesia. The sport has been popular since Indonesia's independence. It is said that each village in various regions has at least one badminton field. The narrative became stronger when the Indonesian men's team brought home the Thomas Cup in 1958.

Badminton is a populist sport. Different conditions are present in the tennis sport. Indonesia is still seen as an onion in the world tennis map. No tennis athlete has really stood out. Moreover, to penetrate world championships such as Wimbledon to French Open (Roland Garros).

Everything changed when Yayuk Basuki was present. The woman who was born in Yogyakarta, November 30, 1970, became the starting marker of Indonesia's global tennis existence. However, that doesn't mean Yayuk's talent comes by itself.

Yayuk is one of the lucky people to have a father, Budi Basuki. His father is known as a police officer who loves tennis. This love made Budi often invite Yayuk from the age of five to play on the tennis court.

Yayuk at first didn't immediately hold the racket. The little boy picked up the ball after his father finished playing. Later Yayuk started playing tennis. His talent stands out. Even though Yayuk was initially attracted to badminton.

Yayuk began to gossip about participating in competitions and winning. Then, he was looked at to enter the tennis National Training Center (Pelatnas) in Ragunan and managed to orbit himself one step further.

Yayuk, who was interested in becoming a badminton player, finally chose tennis as his way of life. Since he won the Natural Cup Paku in Yogyakarta-a provincial level tennis match at the age of eight, the youngest of five siblings' achievements have continued to climb. He then represented Yogya in the 1981 PON.

At that time, Mien Gondowidjojo, then asked him to enter the National Training Center in Ragunan, Jakarta. It was in Ragunan that Yayuk graduated from SMA in 1989. He also met Suharyadi at Pelatnas Ragunan, who later married her in 1993. Now Suharyadi, or commonly called Hery, in addition to accompanying him as her husband, also acts as her coach," said Rustam F. Mandayun and Andari Karina Anom Tempo magazine entitled SAYonara from Yayuk Basuki (1999).

Yayuk's flying hours in tennis competitions are getting higher. He was able to show his dominance in national, Southeast Asian, and Asian level tournaments. This condition makes the world of Yayuk struggling with tennis and all kinds of things.

He could not develop other skills. He must focus on competing. Competition from one country to another. In fact, Yayuk had time to travel abroad, at least 10 months a year. As a result, Yayuk's name became more fragrant. He was like completing the Asian Games.

She once brought home one gold in the women's doubles at the 1986 Asian Games Seoul. She also donated two golds (each of the women's and mixed doubles) at the 1990 Asian Games Beijing. She won her last gold in the women's singles at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.

Another achievement is no less interesting. He is listed as an Indonesian tennis athlete who has penetrated many of the world's leading championships such as Wimbledon. He had beaten six of the world's top 10 players at that time. He was ranked 19th in the world.

This achievement earned him the nickname in the tennis world as Jaguar from Asia. While in Indonesia itself Yayuk is nicknamed the Queen of Tennis Indonesia.

Yayuk Basuki also expressed his wish and retired many times. However, he returned to professional tennis world many times until 2014 he entered the political arena as a representative of the people.

His professional career continues to getong. She is the first Indonesian woman to enter the Eight Club, the top eight alumni of the Wimbledon tournament. Along with the top female players such as Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, and Gabriela Sabatini. From Asia, apart from Yayuk, only Kimiko Date from Japan."

One of its peak achievements was to penetrate the final round of the Birmingham tournament, June 1997. His highest achievement in the grand slam event was to enter the quarter-finals on the Wimbledon stage, which was up to 19th in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Throughout his career, Yayuk managed to get six single titles and nine WTA tour double titles. He retired from his professional career in 2004 (then returned to 2008)," said Harun Mahbub in his writing in Tempo magazine entitled Jaguar Achievement Note Asia (2009).