Published: Saturday March 2, 2013 MYT 11:03:00 PM
BMW Malaysian Open: Bethanie Mattek Sands beats Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach finals
By ASHREENA PILLAI
KUALA LUMPUR: American Bethanie Mattek Sands stormed through to the finals of the BMW Malaysian Open after she beat third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 in their semifinal match at the Royal Selangor Golf Club (RSGC)on Saturday.
It was a close encounter from the get go as Mattek Sands gave chase to Russia's Pavlyuchenkova as both of them took turns winning game after game before the world No.197 from Phoenix, Arizona took the lead at 4-3. The set looked to swing the away of the Mattek-Sands as she took first set 6-4 as play was suspended due to rain.
In the second set, Pavlyuchenkova, the world No.29 took the first game, but there was no stopping an on-fire Mattek-Sands as she stormed through to take the second set by a tame 6-1 score.
Mattek-Sands will face unseeded Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic in tomorrow's final. Pliskova caused an upset when she beat fourth seed Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-0, 6-2 in 46 minutes to book herself into the finals of a WTA tournament for the first time.
"It's a really good feeling for me (to make the finals) but I hope its not just a dream and that I can do it many more times in the future," said Karolina in her post match interview.
"It was an easy match. I was surprised that it went like this. I expected it to be tough because I've played her before once like two years ago and I lost even though I played well. But it went like this and I'm happy that I didn't need lose that much power for tomorrow's finals," she added.
Meanwhile, top seeded doubles pair Janette Husarova of Slovakia and Zhang Shuai of China made the finals after beating Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum and Japan's Erika Sema (Jpn) 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
The pair will face second seeds Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Chang Kai-Chen of Taiwan in the final.
Results - Semifinals
Singles: Karolina Pliskova (Cze) bt Ayumi Morita (Jpn) 6-0, 6-2; Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 6-4, 6-1.
Quarterfinals: Janette Husarova (Svk)-ZhangShuai (Chn) bt Luksika Kumkhum (Tha)-Erika Sema (Jpn) 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
- Ice queen Nicol into British Open quarters
- National badminton team’s lack of depth a glaring factor in home tourney
- Khim Wah-V Shem perform above expectations in Sudirman Cup debut
- Dong-keun shows he’s a capable replacement
- Dane Jorgensen’s wish is to avoid Chinese ace Lin Dan in World Championships
- Kenichi’s goal is to take Japan into Sudirman Cup semi-finals
- Indonesia drawn to meet China again – in knockout stage
- Squash group on final push for Olympic bid
- Only Nicol David left to fly Malaysian flag
- Youngster Rahul getting to terms with racing in Formula 4
- Cooper headlines Wallabies auditions in Super Rugby
- America's Cup makes changes to improve safety following death
- Wasps wing Wade scoops award double
- Only Nicol David left to fly Malaysian flag
- Youngster Rahul getting to terms with racing in Formula 4
- Dane Jorgensen’s wish is to avoid Chinese ace Lin Dan in World Championships
- Jazeman ready to lap it up in his first run at Monaco
- Jindapon aims to qualify for 2016 Olympics
- Kelly heads into final round with one-stroke lead
- Squash group on final push for Olympic bid
RSS
