The Royal Selangor Golf Club was abuzz with excitement as the eighth day of competition at The BMW Malaysian Open 2015 saw the highly anticipated singles semi-final matches take place on Centre Court.
Crowd favourite and World No 52 JarmilaGajdosova of Australia took on World No 94 Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania in the first singles semi-final of the day. This was the third time this year these two players were facing each other, and it turned out to be one of the most entertaining matches of this year’s tournament as both players were on form and equally determined to reach the final.
In the first set, Gajdosova served an ace and committed two less double faults than Dulgheru even though the Romanian served well. Gajdosova managed to upstage her opponent to take the first set 7-5. In the second set, Dulgheru knew she had her work cut out for her if she was to remain in contention for the final, so she stepped up her game against the hard-hitting Australian. She served three aces and continued to serve well, matching Gajdosova and making her run all over the court. Dulgheru game plan worked as she took the second set 7-5 to force the match into the third set.
In the third set both Gajdosova and Dulgheru rallied to get the better of each other. It was obvious that fatigue was setting in as the match approached the three hour mark, but neither player gave up. The third set was a hotly contested one right till the end, and eventually Dulgheru’s hard-hitting and persistence paid off as she narrowly took the third set 7-6 to win the match and advance to the final.
After the match, Dulgheru commented, “Honestly, I can’t believe the match finally finished! At some point I was a bit frustrated and nervous, because I was tired. There were moments that I felt like I just couldn’t go any further, the tiredness was getting to me and making me slow, so I pushed myself to keep on moving for every single point till the last ball, even though I was making mistakes here and there.
Gajdosova played unbelievably well today and she was a worthy opponent. In the end I found my rhythm in the serve and I started hitting more powerful balls to win points. She was serving great and I knew I had to hang in there because Gajdosova was playing a solid game. I’m really happy I won the match.”
In the final, Dulgheru will face top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who defeated 2012 BMW Malaysian Open Champion Hsieh Su-Wei in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, in the other semi-final.
The tennis action continues to heat up on the hard courts of The Royal Selangor Golf Club as both the singles and doubles final is set to take place and reveal this year’s worthy and deserving champions. Stay tuned for all the tennis action happening right here at the BMW Malaysian Open 2015.
Admission is free for the BMW Malaysian Open from the start of the qualifying rounds on February 28th, 2015 until March 4, 2015. Tickets are priced between RM33-RM73 from March 6th to 8th, 2015 respectively.
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