By Chris Oddo | Thursday March 3, 2016
No. 2-seeded Elina Svitolina needed three sets to defeat Risa Ozaki, while a pair of players reached their first tour-level quarterfinal in Kuala Lumpur.
Photo credit: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Second-seeded Elina Svitolina moved into the BMW Malaysian Open quarterfinals, but not without a struggle on Thursday. The world No. 19 notched a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 victory over Japanese qualifier Riza Ozaki. The 21-year-old Ukranian is into her second quarterfinal of the season and will face Kristina Kucova next.
Kucova notched her first two main draw wins of 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, defeating Stefanie Voegele and former champion Hsieh Su-Wei to reach her first quarterfinal since 2014.
In other action on Thursday in the Malaysian capital, Great Britain’s Naomi Broady defeated China’s Zhaoxuan Yang to reach her second quarterfinal of the season, and third of her career.
Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay beat China’s Kai-Chen Chang in straight sets, while Chinese qualifier Lin Zhu defeated Zarina Diyas. Both Buyukakcay and Zhu are into their first career quarterfinals with the win.