KUALA LUMPUR: Second seed Elina Svitolina reached the semifinals of the Malaysian Open on Friday after knocking out Slovakian Kristina Kucova.

Despite a shaky start, the 21-year-old Ukrainian managed to storm past Kucova 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

Third seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany crashed out of the competition after failing to outpace Briton’s 26-year-old Naomi Broady.

Broady, ranked 96th in the world, dispatched Lisicki 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 7-5 in a tough match that lasted more than two hours.

She will square off against sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard on Saturday in the semifinals after the 22-year-old Canadian defeated Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay 6-1, 6-4 in a match that was delayed by rain.

Bouchard has been trying to put a difficult 2015 behind her and has been showing signs of returning to form recently.

She had cruised to the quarterfinals after trashing Kurumi Nara from Japan 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, China’s Lin Zhu also advanced to the semifinals after beating her fellow countrywoman Qiang Wang 6-3, 6-4.

The Chinese player will meet Svitolina in the semifinals on Saturday.

Sharapova out of Indian Wells

World No.7 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from next week’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells after failing to recover from a troublesome forearm injury, it was confirmed Thursday.

The Russian star said in a statement issued by tournament chiefs she had pulled out in an effort to return to full fitness.

“I am extremely disappointed that I am unable to compete in this year’s BNP Paribas Open,” said Sharapova.

“I have been focused on healing my left forearm injury and tried to get my body to be 100% ready to play this event, as it is one of my favorite events on the WTA and so close to my home in LA.

“I know the tournament will be a great success this year and I will be anxious to return next year and hopefully many years after.”

Sharapova has not played since exiting the Australian Open in the quarterfinals in January.

Her withdrawal from Indian Wells is the third time this year she has withdrawn from a tournament because of her forearm injury, having also missed tournaments in Brisbane and Doha.

Mariana Duque-Marino moves into the main draw for Indian Wells following Sharapova’s absence.

This year’s tournament takes place from March 7-20.