KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — S. Theiviya’s fourth appearance in the ALYA WTA Malaysian Open yet again ended in defeat in the first round of qualifiers at TPC Kuala Lumpur today.
The 22-year-old battled for 59 minutes in the 6-1, 6-2 defeat to World No 137 Sabina Sharipova of Uzbekistan.
Theiviya started well in the first set by breaking Sharipova’s serve in the opening game but the Malaysian could not take advantage of it as she lost the next six games.
In the second set, the tiring Theviya, who is ranked second in Malaysia, failed to pose threat as Sharipova led 4-1 before closing the match to advance to the second round of qualifiers.
Theiviya, however, was satisfied with her performance.
“I thought I played quite well. The scores in both sets did not reflect the way I performed. I did my best and made Sharipova struggled at times,” said Theiviya today.
“I managed to retrieve her returns consistently and also led 40-30 in several games but I could not close them. I was unlucky.
“I think Sharipova read my game easily as I lacked variations in my play. Sharipova, a two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist in girls’ singles, was a better player today.”
National champion Jawairiah Noordin was scheduled to take on Tereza Martincova of Czech Republic today but the match has been postponed to 11am, tomorrow, due to bad weather.
There were two upsets in the qualifying round today. Top seed Liu Fangzhou of China lost 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 to Lesley Kerkhove of the Netherlands while fifth seed
Ivana Jorovic of Serbia was ousted 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) by Urszula Radwanska of Poland.
