Second seed Jelena Jankovic reached the semi-finals of the BMW Malaysian Open Saturday without having to pick up her racquet after Ayumi Morita pulled out injured, the second withdrawal in two days. Top seed and world number five Agnieszka Radwanska pulled out Friday due to injury after a string of rain delays caused a schedule pile-up that forced her to face two opponents the day before.
Morita, who survived a tough second round match against compatriot Misaki Doi on Thursday, said: “My shoulder had been giving me a problem since two days ago when I played Misaki.” “I don’t know much about the injury, except that it’s painful. I will take a few days off before deciding if I will enter the next tournament,” she added. “I enjoy playing in Malaysia as there are many Japanese fans and I hope to be back for the fourth time next year.” Jankovic will now take on fifth seed Petra Martic of Croatia, who recovered from losing the opening set on Friday to upset third seed Peng Shuai of China 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4. The other semi-final will be between Taiwanese qualifier Hsieh Su-wei, who benefited from Radwanska’s withdrawal, and Eleni Daniilidou, who beat Olivia Rogowska 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Daniilidou was in action earlier Saturday as her match with Rogowska was suspended on Friday with Daniilidou leading 6-2, 3-2. The long break helped Rogowska as she took the first four games of the day to level the match 6-3 but Daniilidou fought back to take the third set 6-2. The $220,000 BMW Malaysian Open ends on Sunday.
