Little-known Kulichkova advances in Malaysia

Little-known Elizaveta Kulichkova cruised through to the quarter-final stage after knocking out Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva on Wednesday at the WTA Malaysian Open. The Russian, ranked 171th in the world and who defeated seventh-seeded Bojana Jovanovski on Monday, beat Putintseva in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. "During the first set things were fine. But when it came to the second set I began to tire, so I went to the rest room and I managed to compose myself for the remainder of the match as it was very tough towards the end of the match," said Kulichkova. "This is my first time making it to the quarter-finals, and apart from being happy, I am confident I can go all the way in this tournament as I am playing some of my best tennis now,” she said. Fourth-seeded Jarmila Gajdosova also went through to the next round after dispatching Thailand's Luksika KumKhum in straight sets 7-5, 6-2. The match which lasted slightly over one and a half hours, saw the Thai player, ranked 128th in the world, put up a good challenge at the start of the match. "In the first set, I struggled a bit as I found it hard to read her game," said Gajdosova. "But I did not let her hit the ball as much as she wanted, and I managed to outplay her by making her run up and down the court." Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Kurumi Nara defeated Poland’s Magda Linette in a tightly contested match. The Japanese player won 7-5,5-7, 7-6.