Defending champ Hsieh out of Malaysian Open

KUALA LUMPUR: Defending champion Hsieh Su Wei lost in the BMW Malaysian Open's quarter-finals Friday, going down 7-5, 6-2 to American wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The Taiwanese's defeat, coupled with seed number one Caroline Wozniacki's first-round loss on Wednesday, means no defending champion or top seed has ever won the Malaysian Open.

Mattek-Sands -- who is known as the Lady Gaga of tennis after attending the 2011 pre-Wimbledon party in a dress made of tennis balls -- already staged a surprise win Thursday when she crushed Duan Ying-Ying of China in two sets.

Mattek-Sands will now meet world number 29 and third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who brushed aside Australian youngster Ashleigh Barty 6-2, 6-0 in just an hour.

Meanwhile, Japan's Ayumi Morita edged closer to winning her first ever WTA title after beating Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-1.

Morita, who ranks 55 in the world and has played in the Malaysian Open since the inaugural event in 2011, will meet 127th-ranked Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in Saturday's semi-final.

Pliskova eliminated Austrian Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 7-5, 6-1 to set-up the meeting with Morita. (AFP)