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| Roberta Vinci |
THE STAR
KUALA LUMPUR: In one fell swoop, the BMW Malaysian Open lost two of its top four seeded players.
Fourth seed Annika Beck of Germany was the first to go when she went down to world No. 95 Zarina Dyas of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club on Tuesday.
Barely a few hours later, top seed and world No. 10 Roberta Vinci of Italy was sent crashing out by unheralded Chang Kai-chen.
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| Chang Kai-Shen |
The US Open finalist had won a tight first set but it was the 25-year-old Taiwanese who eventually grew into the match as she finished off Vinci 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in 92 minutes.
“It’s always an honour to play against a top 10 player and I really enjoyed the match,” said Kai-chen whose previous best was beating then world No. 1 Dinara Safina in Tokyo in 2009.
“I was leading in the first set but I rushed myself and lost it. After that I told myself to be more patient, keep the ball in and go for the break.
“I’m definitely very happy to win. I was shocked when I saw the draw initially as no one likes to play the top seed.
“But I’m just here to do my best ... especially since I lost a year with a wrist injury (2013). At the end of the day I’m just another player ranked around 150 trying to do well.”
Vinci, who won her 10th WTA title in St Petersburg two weeks ago, admitted she was tired.
“It was a tough match in tough conditions. I played well initially but I was just tired ... physically and mentally,” she said.
A third seeded player to bite the dust was China’s Zheng Saisai.
The eighth seed and world No. 63 went down 6-4, 3-6, 2-6 to compatriot Yang Zhaoxuan in 2 hours 10 minutes.
Second seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, however, avoided another upset as she thrashed Japan’s Miyu Kato 6-1, 6-1.
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