Ukrainian tennis player Kostyuk starts Korea Open with landslide victory
Photo: Marta Kostyuk finished in 80 minutes (Getty Images)
Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk confidently defeated Dutch player Arantxa Rus in the first round of the tournament in Seoul.
After an even start, both players entered a series of breaks. From the fourth game onwards, the returner won points in five consecutive games. Kostyuk came out on top in this exchange, closing out the set on her serve in the ninth game.
The second set flew by quickly. Kostyuk broke through Rus’s resistance in just 35 minutes. She started by winning four consecutive points, and after a brief pause, secured another break to close the set and match.
Kostyuk is seeded 5th at the tournament in the Korean capital. Higher seeds include neutral athletes Daria Kasatkina, Diana Shnaider, Liudmila Samsonova, and Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia. The winner of the Korea Open will earn $142,000.
In the next round, Kostyuk will face British player Heather Watson, who defeated China’s Jing-Jing Lu (6-4, 6-4) in the round of 32. Watson, a native of Guernsey, eliminated two home players in the qualifiers.
Notably, Kostyuk recently retained her position as Ukraine's top-ranked player in the new WTA rankings.
