Among them include Germany’s Annika Beck and China’s Zhen Saisai
The seeded players are falling like tenpins at the BMW Malaysian Open.
Two-time WTA Tour winner Annika Beck of Germany and China’s Zheng Saisai, the fourth and eighth seed respectively, both became the latest high profile first-round casualties on Tuesday afternoon at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in Bukit Kiara.
World No.42 Beck lost to 7-5, 6-3 to Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas while qualifier Yang Zhaoxuan of China scored arguably the biggest upset of the day when she rallied from a set down to send Saisai packing with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.
Fifth seed Nao Hibino of Japan suffered the same fate losing 6-4, 6-2 to China’s Duan Ying-ying on Monday.
Beck, whose maiden visit to Kuala Lumpur lasted only an hour and 30 minutes, would be wondering how she lost the tie that she has dominated so comfortably in the opening stages.
Beck raced to a 4-1 lead and was on the brink of winning the first set at 5-3.
But Zarina, who reached the quarter-finals in 2013, stunned Beck by winning the next four games to draw the first blood.
The second set saw the match was evenly fought for the first six games before Zarina broke Beck’s serve to make it 5-3 and went on to seal the win.
Zhaoxuan, the world No.176, was overjoyed to have secured her first win over Saisai, whom she has lost to in previous two encounters.
“I’m thrilled to reach the second round,” said 21-year-old, who idolised Chinese legend Li Na.
“I surprised myself with this win against Saisai. She had the upper-hand having beaten me before. I fought very hard in the second set to get myself back in the match.
“It was a very difficult battle, not only against a good opponent, but with the heat as well.”
The tournament’s fourth day also belonged to another two qualifiers as Japan’s Risa Ozaki and Zhu Lin of China have also booked their berths in the second round.
World No.190 Zhu Lin defeated Russia’s Alexandra Panova, the opponent who ranked 30 rungs higher than her 6-4, 6-4 while Japan’s world No.133 Risa Ozaki also proved she’s no pushover by whitewashing world No.87 Elizaveta Kulichkova 6-0, 6-2.
Zhu Lin said: “My opponent is that kind of play who serves very well, so I had try to server better in order to gain advantage. I think I did well today and I was managing well and am so glad to have won.”
