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Kuala Lumpur: Danish star Caroline Wozniacki booked a place in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open after dispatching China`s Lin Zhu in straight sets on Thursday.
The Chinese player put up a good showing in the first set but was overpowered in the second by the top-seeded Dane who won 6-4, 6-1.
“That was my first time playing Zhu and she played a flat game…she was aggressive throughout the match and credit to her for playing a good match, especially in the first set,” said Wozniacki.
“For tomorrow`s quarter-final match I will be out there fighting to win and do my best.”
Wozniacki, who had an early exit in the Malaysian tournament last year after failing to clear the opening hurdle, will meet Germany`s 20-year-old Carina Witthoeft on Friday.
Witthoeft, ranked 81st in the world, got past fifth-seeded Klara Koukalova from the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/3), 6-0 to ensure her meeting with Wozniacki.
“In my next match, which will be the first quarter-final of my career, I will be playing aggressively as well as I intend to continue with my good run in this tournament,” said Witthoeft.
In another match, 2012`s Malaysian Open champion Su-Wei Hsieh from Taiwan defeated Japan`s Misa Eguchi 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.
“I was doing well in the first set, but in the second set I had a lapse in concentration, got nervous and started hitting the ball out of court,” Hsieh said.
“In the third set however, I got my game together and I started to hit harder and faster, and I also attacked her serve to unsettle her game. It did take close to two hours for me to beat her but I`m happy I did as now I`m in the quarter-finals.”
Hsieh will meet little-known Elizaveta Kulichkova from russia on Friday. The players, who are on form and showing good momentum in the tournament, will be clashing for the first time.
“I have never played Kulichkova before, but I look forward to playing her as she`s been doing well in this tournament,” said the Taiwanese tennis ace.
The Russian who is ranked 171st has been a bit of a sensation so far, advancing in the competition by knocking out players ranked higher than her, including seventh-seed Bojana Jovanovski from Serbia.
“I have never played her before either but once we get on court we shall see how it goes from there,” said Kulichkova.
“As usual I will try to play my best game and play to win.”
In other quarter-final matches on Friday, Julia Goerges from Germany will meet Romania`s Alexandra Dulgheru and Japan`s Kurumi Nara will face Australia`s Jarmila Gajdosova.
AFP
