Friday is quarter-finals day in Kuala Lumpur with four of the eight seeds still remaining.  The big tennis news of the day was that Petra Kvitova has pulled out of Indian Wells citing exhaustion.  It’s quite concerning considering that we are only two months into the season, but I hope Petra is OK!  Based on the conditions in Miami where Petra always struggles with the humidity, i’d expect her to skip that tournament too.  A heads up to @MGLovesTennis on Twitter who did a great Q&A piece with the commentator, Guy McCrea.  Of the motley crew of TennisTV commentators, McCrea is definitely one of the best and it’s a really interesting read.

1. Caroline Wozniacki v Carina Witthoeft (Kuala Lumpur, QF)

The number one seed, Caroline Wozniacki will go up against Carina Witthoeft in the quarter-finals of the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.  Ranked at number 81 in the world, on paper this will be Wozniacki’s toughest match en route to the final.  Witthoeft has been moving steadily up the rankings after a successful year on the ITF tour.  In 2014, Witthoeft reached seven finals winning four ITF events in Hechingen, Barnstaple, Saint Malo and Jou-les-Tours.  Witthoeft earnt direct entry into the Australian Open and enjoyed the best win of her career in the first round beating Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-3 6-1.  It was Witthoeft’s first ever main draw win at a Grand Slam and she didn’t stop there as she progressed to the third round, eventually falling to Irina-Camelia Begu.  Witthoeft has also racked up an ITF title this year in Altenkirchen.  It’s good to see Witthoeft playing more WTA events this year and her success on the ITF tour certainly seems to be helping her in making it a smooth transition.  In Kuala Lumpur, Witthoeft has picked up wins over Misaki Doi (#100), 7-5 7-5 and Klara Koukalova (#92), 7-6(3) 6-0.

Wozniacki has beaten Yafan Wang (6-3 6-1) and Lin Zhu (6-4 6-1) in her first two matches.  This match will depend on how much Wozniacki wants this.  Now that she has got this far into the tournament, I would guess that she will be committed to stick around and fight for the title. Wozniacki is the kind of player who needs matches and after a disappointing start to the year, particularly after the level of tennis that she produced at the WTA Championships in Singapore, I think it will benefit her.  Witthoeft is a talented player and i’m looking forward to seeing more from her in 2015.  Caro for the win though…

Prediction: Wozniacki d. Witthoeft in 2 tight sets

2. Kurumi Nara v Jarmila Gajdosova (Kuala Lumpur, QF)

In the only all-seeded quarter-final in Kuala Lumpur, the number four seed Jarmila Gajdosova will go up against the number six seed, Kurumi Nara.  Gajdosova hasn’t dropped a set this week with victories over Cagla Buyukakcay, 7-5 6-4 and Luksika Kumkhum, 7-5 6-2.  I did notice that Gajdosova failed to serve out both sets in her opener at the first time of asking, but got the job done in straight sets.  Gajdosova has played a lot of tennis in 2015, but continues to impress.  Gajdosova has won 11 matches this year and is set to break back into the world’s top 50 in next week’s rankings.  Nara would need to keep winning in KL if she were to achieve the same feat.  The highest ranked Japanese woman on tour needed a third set tiebreaker to see off Magda Linette in the second round, 7-5 5-7 7-6(6)  in three hours and 13 minutes.  Gajdosova and Nara will be playing each other for the first time on the WTA tour.  Gajdosova will obviously be the aggressor, but the result will depend how much she finds the court.  Nara is competent enough to win it if Gajdosova has an off-day; however i’d give the Aussie the benefit of the doubt based on her vastly improved form over the last year.

Prediction: Gajdosova d. Nara in 3 sets

WTA Kuala Lumpur Quarter-Final Predictions

Julia Goerges d. Alexandra Dulgheru in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)

Elizaveta Kulichkova d. Su-Wei Hsieh in 2 sets

WTA Monterrey Quarter-Final Predictions

Ana Ivanovic d. Kristina Mladenovic in 3 sets

Caroline Garcia d. Magdalena Rybarikova in 2 sets

Urszula Radwanska d. Timea Bacsinszky in 2 sets

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d. Sara Errani in 2 sets