Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk confidently defeated Dutch Arantxa Rus in the first round of the tournament in Seoul.
Hana Bank Korea Open, 1st Round
Rus – Kostyuk – 0:2 (3:6, 1:6)
After an even start, the match turned into a series of breaks. Beginning with the fourth game, the receiving player won five consecutive points. Kostyuk came out on top in this exchange, and in the ninth game, she closed out the set on her serve.
The second set flew by quickly, with Kostyuk breaking the Dutch player’s resistance in just 35 minutes. She started by winning four points in a row, and after a short pause, secured another break to close the set and the match.
Kostyuk is seeded 5th at the tournament in the Korean capital. Ranked higher are neutral players Daria Kasatkina, Diana Shnaider, Liudmila Samsonova, and Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia. The winner of the Korea Open will earn $142,000.
In the next round, Kostyuk will face Britain’s Heather Watson, who defeated China's Jia-Jing Lu (6:4, 6:4) in the round of 32. Watson, originally from the island of Guernsey, knocked out two local players during the qualifiers.
