Tennis
Radwanska surges on
2012-03-01 16:42
Kuala Lumpur - World No 5 Agnieszka Radwanska won two matches on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of a rain-interrupted BMW Malaysian Open.
The Pole beat Akgul Amanmuradova, who she was originally scheduled to play Tuesday, 6-2, 6-4 in her first match of the day before easing by Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 6-4.
While results went Radwanska's way, it was the end of the road for fourth seed Jarmila Gajdosova and seventh seed and defending champion Jelena Dokic.
Radwanska was in cruise control against Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the second round but admitted it was hard waiting just to finish off her first round match.
"Playing two matches (in one day) is bad, especially under these conditions. The weather really hasn't been helping the progress of the tournament," Radwanska said.
Radwanska came to Kuala Lumpur after winning in Dubai on Saturday, a victory which saw her reach a career high on the WTA rankings.
The player, who was wearing a thigh strap, will meet Taiwanese qualifier Su-Wei Hsieh Friday for a berth in the semi-finals.
"I've not had much rest too as I have been playing for several weeks now. My shoulder feels sore as a result of this, but hopefully it is not too bad. But the thigh strap is just a precaution," she said.
Rain forced her Tuesday match against Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan to be postponed and it was then called off on Wednesday with the score at 6-2, 3-3.
When play resumed on Thursday, Radwanska was fired up to finish and took just 20 minutes to close out the match.
Meanwhile, Dokic threw away a one set and 4-2 up lead in against fellow Australian Olivia Rogowska to lose in three.
Rogowska held her nerve despite facing some punishing groundstrokes to grind out a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) victory.
"It was one of those frustrating days where I couldn't play my best tennis," Dokic said. "It was a game I should have won easily."
A delighted Rogowska will now face Eleni Daniilido, who upset Gajdosova of Australia 6-4, 6-0 for a place in the semis.
Meanwhile, second seed and former world number one Jelena Jankovic crushed Jill Craybas of the US 6-2, 6-0.
In the quarter-finals, Jankovic will face sixth seed Ayumi Morita, who survived a scare from fellow Japanese Misaki Doi before prevailing 7-6 (8/6), 6-2.
"It feels good to have reached the quarter-finals. I enter every tournament with the aim of winning the title, and that is the target in Kuala Lumpur," Jankovic of Serbia said.
Third seed Peng Shuai of China also reached the quarter-finals Thursday and will meet fifth seed Petra Martic of Croatia.
The $220 000 Malaysian Open ends on Sunday.