RAIN wreaked havoc once again on the BMW Malaysian Open but it turned out to be a memorable day for fifth seed Petra Martic who earned her biggest victory of the season en route to qualifying for only her third career WTA Tour semi-finals.
In one of the tournament's most exciting matches, the Croatian slogged for nearly 150 minutes to upset China's World No 19 and third seed Peng Shuai 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 for her maiden victory over a top-20 ranked player this season.
After losing the first set, Petra forced the second into a tie-break battle, where she broke her opponent's serve three times to force a third set.
In the 10th game of the deciding set, Peng Shuai, who was on serve, battled back from 0-30 down to level proceedings but a questionable line-call earned Petra her first match point.
Peng Shuai, however, forced deuce but lost the subsequently two plays to give Petra victory.
"I'm satisfied with how I played. I don't think I played this aggressive before. I kept my nerves during those crucial points and won the match," said Petra at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort yesterday.
"I'm proud to have reached the semi-finals but would have preferred to have won in straight sets. I made mistakes and there were a couple of bad calls in the first set. It frustrated me but I was not discouraged.
"I set my mind to focus on winning the next two. Physically it would have been better to play only two sets but three setters seemed to be working for me."
Petra has been doing it the hard way in the tournament, winning her first and second round encounters, also in three sets.
The 21-year-old has not won a tour title since turning professional four years ago. She reached the semi-finals in Bogota and Copenhagen, both achieved last year.
Only three matches, including the walkover by Poland's Agnieszka Radwaska, were completed due to the heavy downpour yesterday. Play was also suspended on Wednesday.
Greece's Eleni Daniilidou led Australia's Olivia Rogowska 6-2, 3-2 before it started to rain. The tour officials waited for three hours before calling off play.
In an earlier doubles match, Czech Republic's Pliskova sisters, Karolina and Kristyna defeated China's Liu Wan Ting-Xu Yi Fan 7-5, 6-3 to qualify for their first career semi-finals in doubles.
They face the Taiwanese and Japanese combination of Chan Hao Ching-Rika Fujiwara today.
Results:-
Singles, Q-finals: Petra Martic (Cro) v Peng Shuai (Chn) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4; Hsieh Su Wei (Tai) bt Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) w/o.
Doubles, Q-finals: Karolina Pliskova-Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) bt Liu Wan Ting-Xu Yi Fan (Chn) 7-5, 6-3.
Fixtures:-
Singles, Q-finals: Eleni Daniilidou (Gre) v Olivia Rogowska (Aus) 6-2, 3-2 - suspended match; Ayumi Morita (Jpn) v Jelena Jankovic (Ser) — Matches from 11am onwards.
S-final: Hsieh Su Wei v Eleni Daliilidou (Gre) or Olivia Rogowska (Aus); Petra Martic (Cro) v Ayumi Morita (Jpn) or Jelena Jankovic (Ser) — not before 4pm
Doubles, S-finals: Karolina Pliskova-Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) v Chan Hao Ching (Tai)-Rika Fujiwara (Jpn); Casey Dellacqua-Jarmila Gajdosova (Aus) v Chang Kai Chen- Chuang Chia Jung (Tai) — * Doubles starts at 1pm
