Cibulkova tops WTA 2014 winning list

Top seed Dominika Cibulkova stormed past Hsieh Su-Wei on Thursday at the BMW Malaysian Open for her WTA-leading 22nd match win of the year, passing Li Na and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Cibulkova, the Slovakian world number 10, stormed through the first set on another rain-delayed day.

Just like in her first-round match against Turkey’s Pemra Ozgen, she had a slight hiccup, allowing Taiwan’s Hsieh to win two games in a row to make it 2-2.

But the 25-year-old Cibulkova bounced right back, winning four games in a row to end it, 6-1 6-2 in just over 70 minutes.

Cibulkova had been tied with Li and Radwanska at 21 wins for the year but is now the stand-alone leader.

And with three more rounds in the KL event she could go as high as 25 wins by Sunday.

Awaiting Cibulkova, who is seeking her fifth career WTA Tour title, in the quarter-finals will be number six seed Zarina Diyas, who won her second round match on Wednesday.

Meanwhile second seed Zhang Shuai of China overcame a second set blemish to reach the quarter-finals.

The world number 45 notched her second straight win over Hong Kong’s Zhang Ling 6-3 4-6 6-0 to set-up a match against Poland’s Magda Linette on Friday.

It will be Zhang Shuai’s second quarter-finals appearance this season having reached the semi-finals in Acapulco in February.

Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay achieved her first ever quarter-finals appearance with an impressive performance in the second round.

The world number 150, who has won two International Tennis Federation titles this season, easily outpaced world number 134 Tadeja Majeric of Slovenia 6-4 6-4 in only her sixth appearance in the main draw of a tour event.

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