World number five Agnieszka Radwanska won two matches 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 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 led forced her Tuesday match against Amanmuradova 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, defending champion 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 uupset Gajdosova of Australia 6-4, 6-0, for a place in the semis.
Third seed Peng Shuai of China also reached the quarter-finals Thursday and will meet fifth seed Petra Martic of Croatia. The $220,000 BMW Malaysian Open ends on Sunday.
