Yulia hopes to join the Lucky Four

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia seems to be a happy hunting ground for players seeking their first career titles on the WTA Tour. Four of the past six Malaysian Open winners – Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova (2010), Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei (2012), the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova (2013) and Croatia’s Donna Vekic (2014) – all won their maiden titles here.

Now, Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva (pic) is hoping to join the group when she competes in the ALYA WTA Malaysian Open at the TPC Kuala Lumpur from Feb 25-March 5.

The 22-year-old Putintseva has been enjoying a rich vein of form of late.

She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open last year – her first in the Grand Slam – before losing to world No. 1 Serena Williams.

Earlier this month, the 1.63m-tall Putintseva reached the final of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy – her first WTA final – but lost 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6 to France’s Kristina Mladenovic.

Things are certainly looking up for Putintseva, who had a tough time making her mark in 2013 due to a back injury. She also failed to win a single WTA match in 2015.

“I had a difficult time trying to make a come back in 2014,” said Putintseva, who is now ranked a career high 27th in the world.

“But I’m happy to have gone through it ... now I feel like I’m able to improve my game.”

Besides Putintseva, the other notable players to have confirmed their entries are defending champion Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro and France’s Caroline Garcia.

The qualifying rounds starts on Feb 25 while the main draw will begin on Feb 27.