Bouchard Cruises Into Kuala Lumpur SFs
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – No.6 seed Eugenie Bouchard continued her serene progress at the BMW Malaysian Open with a straight set win over Cagla Buyukakcay in Friday’s quarterfinals.
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Even a visit from the trainer midway through the second set failed to derail Bouchard, who recovered from a break down to close out the contest, 6-1, 6-4.
“She was a tough opponent. I felt like I played very aggressive and solid at the same time,” Bouchard said. “I got a little dizzy at the beginning of the second set but I managed to fight through.”
The conditions in the Malaysian capital have proved a thorn in the side of several players this week and they tested Bouchard physically and mentally: “It’s pretty tough here – it’s very humid in Malaysia. Sometimes I was seeing four balls instead of one! But the physio helped me a little bit and I just kept fighting, took it one point at a time and luckily managed to win it in two sets.”
Next the Canadian will face Naomi Broady after she upset No.3 seed Sabine Lisicki, 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-5.
In a match dominated by serve, Broady’s held firm during a tense deciding set to send her through to the second WTA semifinal of her career.
“I’m really pleased that I won. It’s one of the best ranking wins of my career,” Broady said. “It was really a battle of the serves today; Sabine has one of the best serves on the tour and I hope that I will soon have one of the best, too.
“I just tried to keep my composure on my service games and fighting for every point.”
On the other side of the draw, No.2 seed Elina Svitolina faces surprise package Zhu Lin. Svitolina recovered from a nightmare start to defeat Kristina Kucova, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1, while qualifier Zhu won her all-Chinese encounter again Wang Qiang, 6-3, 6-4.