'Limited public tennis facilities in the capital hampered tennis regeneration. I came here to persuade him to evaluate city policies regarding public sports facilities,' Yayuk told reporters.

Yayuk, who founded Yayuk Basuki Tennis Academy 23 years ago, complained about the increasing public tennis court rent prices and limited number of public tennis courts in the city, forcing her to limit the number of students she trained.

'When my academy started to rent city-owned Bulungan tennis court [South Jakarta], the rent price was Rp 22,500 (US$1.96) per hour, but it's now Rp 70,000 per hour. We can only rent it from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. It's just not enough time to train all of my students. My academy is not a commercial one and I often assist local talents from families with low income with cross-subsidy schemes, so I hope the governor will be willing to give leniency,' she said, citing that her academy currently trained 150 students.

The one-time world number 19 singles star added that she was committed to nurture as many local talents as possible.

Jokowi promised that he would inspect public sports facilities in the capital before making a decision.

Yayuk, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist, won six WTA Tour singles titles during her career.

In 1991, she became the first Indonesian player to win a major professional tennis event when she captured the singles titles at Pattaya. She also became the second only Indonesian woman to win the Asian Games singles gold medal, after Lita Liem Sugiarto in 1974, when she defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn in Bangkok at the 1998 Games.

During her career, she has recorded wins over Martina Hingis, Amélie Mauresmo, Mary Joe Fernández, Lindsay Davenport, Gabriela Sabatini, Magdalena Maleeva, Anke Huber, Iva Majoli, Anna Kournikova, Zina Garrison and Mary Pierce.

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