Morita pulls off double triumph in Pattaya

PATTAYA, Thailand (AFP) –

Ayumi Morita of Japan plays a return at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 19, 2013. Morita shrugged off a three-day battle with the rain to reach the Pattaya Open quarter-finals on Thursday, beating former world number one Ana Ivanovic and compatriot Kimiko Date-Krumm.

Japan’s Ayumi Morita shrugged off a three-day battle with the rain to reach the Pattaya Open quarter-finals on Thursday, beating former world number one Ana Ivanovic and compatriot Kimiko Date-Krumm.

Ivanovic and Morita began their first round clash late on Tuesday before torrential rain brought proceedings to a halt with the contest poised at one set all.

When they finally resumed on Thursday after a Wednesday washout, the Japanese player romped to a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win.

“This normally doesn’t happen, where one match lasts for three days, but I was ready for that,” Morita said.

“When I went on the court I just tried to stay aggressive and fight for every point until the end because she’s a great player.

“To be honest, I wanted to play yesterday, because if I played today I knew I would have to play two matches, but this is tennis and I’m ready for the next match.”

Six hours later Morita emerged back out onto Court 1 to face evergreen compatriot Date-Krumm and clinched a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win and a quarter-final clash with Russia’s Nina Bratchikova.

Bratchikova made the last eight when defending champion and sixth seed Daniela Hantuchova was forced to retire midway through their match after suffering from dizzy spells.

British eighth seed Heather Watson was also knocked out, losing to Latvian qualifier Anastasija Sevastova, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-2.

Last year’s runner-up Maria Kirilenko, the Russian second seed, saw off Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.