Top seeded Jelena Ostapenko failed early in the WTA tournament in Seoul. The 21-year-old lost against Ekaterina Alexandrova 3:6 and 2:6.
The Russian didn’t give last year’s French Open winner a chance at all and after only a little more than 70 minutes she was the winner. Thus, Ostapenko will not be able to successfully defend their title in Seoul.
The Latvian found only two break points in the South Korean capital, one of which she could use. Her opponent, on the other hand, who was two years older, managed three breaks. With only eleven Unforced Errors on 18 winning strokes, Alexandrova also showed controlled offensive tennis that finally helped her to victory.
In the quarter-finals, the 23-year-old will now face six seeded Hsieh. As the second round match against Ostapenko took place only on Friday due to some rain showers, Alexandrova has to play again on Friday. However, Kiki Bertens, who is seeded to two, has already won her quarter-final match against Evgeniya Rodina in three sets.
The tableau of the Korea Open at a glance