World No 10 Dominika Cibulkova reached the quarter-finals of the BMW Malaysian Open with a 6-1, 6-2 demolition of 2012 champion Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan at Royal Selangor Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur today.
The Slovak, who is bidding for her second WTA tour title of the season, broke Su-Wei’s serve six times to record the win in 73 minutes. Dominika, the top seed, plays Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas tomorrow for a spot in the semi-finals.
My game is getting better after every game on the court surface here. I dominated Su-Wei and did not allow her to pose any resistance, said the confident Dominika today.
Zarina will not be an easy opponent. She is young and has potential. In order to go far, I need to make further progress in my game.
Defending champion Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic and seventh seed Croatian Donna Vekic also cruised into the quarter-finals.
The World No 75 Karolina notched a 6-1, 6-3 victory over qualifier Duan Ying Ying of China to set-up a quarter-final clash against rising star Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey, who overcame Slovenia’s Tadeja Majeric 6-4, 6-4 in the second round, tomorrow.
Karolina’s twin sister Kristyna, however, failed to progress, losing 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 to Donna Vekic.
“It was not an easy match (against Ying Ying) although the straight set win looked impressive. Everything is good, I am happy with my form. I always play well in the BMW Malaysian Open. I am confident ahead of tomorrow’s match.”
Karolina, however, stressed Cagla will not be an easy opponent.
I’ve beaten her twice before but those wins were not easy. I need to play my best tennis to progress, Karolina added.
In doubles, top seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Chan Hao Ching of Taiwan overcame a tough first set to overcome Eleni Daniilidou of Greece and Magda Linette of Poland 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals against Su Wei and Australiaís Jarmila Gajdosova tomorrow.
