Anne Keothavong exits Malaysian open

ANNE Keothavong was beaten in the first round of the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The eighth-seeded Briton went down 6-4, 7-5 to Taiwanese qualifier Hsieh Su-wei.

Keothavong struggled with her serve, winning only 37 per cent of points on her first delivery and losing in just over an hour and a half.

Third-seed Peng Shuai of China beat Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Fourth-seeded Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia defeated Kathrin Woerle of Germany 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, and sixth-seeded Ayumi Morita of Japan defeated Nudnida Luangnam of Thailand 6-4, 6-0.

Twin sisters Kristyna and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic both celebrated victories. Kristyna beat Iryna Bremond of France 6-0, 6-2, while Karolina defeated Chang Kai-Chen of Taiwan 6-3, 6-2.