Bouchard ends Broady run in Malaysia
British number three Naomi Broady lost 6-4 6-3 to sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard in the Malaysian Open semi-finals.
World number 96 Broady, who beat former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki in the previous round, was soon 3-1 down to 2014 Wimbledon finalist Bouchard.
And in only her second WTA semi-final, the 26-year-old lost the opening set to Canada’s Bouchard in 38 minutes.
Bouchard, the world number 52 who won the only previous meeting between the pair in 2012, triumphed in 76 minutes.
Broady had three break points in the eighth game of the second set to level at 4-4 but was unable to take them.
In the final, Bouchard will play second seed Elina Svitolina, the 21-year-old Ukrainian, ranked 19 in the world, who beat China’s Lin Zhu 6-3 6-3.
Elsewhere, British number two Heather Watson reached the semi-finals of the Monterrey Open.
The 23-year-old beat second seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 6-4 in the quarter-finals and will meet France’s Caroline Garcia in the last four.