KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Poland’s Magda Linette secured her first WTA Tour semi-final appearance in 18 months at the ALYA WTA Malaysian Open at TPC Kuala Lumpur today.
The 22-year-old continued her fine run form to pack off sixth seed, China’s Duan Yingying 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-1 in a match that took almost five hours to finish after it was halted twice due to rain. Yingying’s exit means that all the eight seeded players have been eliminated for a spot in the semifinals for the first time in the history
The last time Magda reached the last-four stage was at the Japan Open in September 2015. She finished runner-up in that tournament.Magda was delighted to prevail under tough circumstances.
“The rain delay made things so difficult for us,” said Magda, who was a quarter-finalist in Kuala Lumpur two years ago. “If was very tough to focus and play your best tennis when you walked in and out of the court because of the rain. In the second set, I was very nervous and it cost me dearly for failing to keep my emotions in check. But I manage to calm myself down during the interval and was able to play much better in the decider. Just really glad that I pulled through.”
Magda will take on world No. 106 Nao Hibino of Japan for a place in the final. Nao booked her semifinals place after she ended Lesley Kerkhove’s fairy tale run in the tournament, beating the world No.195 Dutch qualifier 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the other late quarter-final clash.
For Nao, it is also her first semi-final appearance since reaching the final in Tashkent last September. Unlike Magda, Nao had no complain about the weather.
“I kind of expected the rain and was prepared for it,” she said. “Credit to Kerkhove, as she was playing much better than I expected. I had to really hit and run all the time to overcome her. As for Magda, I never played her before but I’m relishing a great semi-final battle with her. I believe we both want to win badly.”
The other last four clash features Australian Ashleigh Barty against China’s Han Xinyun. The doubles quarterfinals clash between Nicole Melichar/Makato Ninomiya and Duan Ying Ying/Han Xinyun was postponed and will be played tomorrow.
The winners will play Russia’s Natele Dzalamidze/Veronika Kudermetova in the semifinals to meet Aussie pair Ashleigh Barty/ Casey Dellacqua in the final on Sunday.
