KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 4 (UPI) -- Lucie Safarova advanced to the semifinals of the WTA's BMW Malaysian Open with an upset victory Friday.
Safarova, the No. 5 seed this week, lost her serve just once in defeating second-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-4. Bartoli had lost just four games in winning her first two matches at the Malaysian Open.
But Safarova saved two of the three break points she faced and converted four break-point chances herself in winning. She lost just 15 points on serve and won the point when receiving.
No. 4-seeded Jarmila Groth took a tight 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 decision from sixth-seeded Ayumi Morita. Groth was good on just 50 percent of her first serves and saved 15 of 20 break points for Morita. Groth had six service breaks, with three coming in the third set.
Jelena Dokic, who beat top-seeded Francesca Schiavone in the first round, bested No. 8-seeded Bojana Jovanovski in Friday's quarterfinals. She lost five points over four service games in the second set.
Michaella Krajicek topped Anne Kremer 6-2, 6-3 in earning a shot at Dokic in Saturday's semifinals. It will be their first career meeting.
The other semifinal has Safarova going against Groth, who has won two of their three previous matches.
