The WTA 500 tournament in Seoul this week, the Hana Bank Korea Open, suffered several high-profile withdrawals that could just offer a rare opportunity for Emma Raducanu, who gained direct entry into the 28-woman draw.
It’s tough. It could be a little bit easier, but I’m keeping up with the schedule. I’m only talking about mandatory tournaments and there are rules about mandatory tournaments. But I’m ready for playing till November, I guess, unless I’m going to get injured. Iga Swiatek
Just a couple of days before the draw was made, World No 1 Iga Swiatek was the latest to pull out, citing fatigue and joining defending champion Jessica Pegula, US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro, World No 4 Elena Rybakina, British No 1 Katie Boulter, and former World No 1 Karolina Pliskova on the sidelines.
The 23-year old Pole admitted that the schedule had taken its toll and she is mentally and physically exhausted after playing an extended clay-court swing followed by Wimbledon, the Paris Olympics and the North American hard-court campaign.
After her quarter-final exit at the hands of Pegula at the US Open, Swiatek said: “It’s tough. It could be a little bit easier, but I’m keeping up with the schedule. I’m only talking about mandatory tournaments and there are rules about mandatory tournaments.
“But I’m ready for playing till November, I guess, unless I’m going to get injured.”
Nevertheless, she has now joined the long list of players to pulled out of the Korea Open, which gets underway on Monday.
The result is that several lower-ranked players have been pushed into the main draw, with 2021 US Open champion Raducanu among them.
Originally given a wild-card, Raducanu is now a direct entry into the main draw as one of the alternates with her ranking of 72, and, with no points to defend, the British No 2 has an opportunity to rise up the rankings if she can get a few wins under her belt.
© Andrej Isakovic/AFP via Getty Images
Two Russians now head the draw, with World No 13 Daria Kasatkina the top seed, and Liudmila Samsonova, seeded 2, while Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, Diana Shnaider, also Russian, and Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk completing the top 5.
The top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes, and Kasatkina anchors the top quarter along with No 8 seed Yuan Yue from China.
The section features two US Open champions in Raducanu, who will face America’s Peyton Stearns in the 1st round, and Sloane Stephens, who takes on compatriot Hailey Baptiste.
No 2 seed Samsonova and No 6 seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan are the top seeds in the last quarter.
Putintseva faces a tough opener against No 46 Amanda Anismova from the USA, who made her first WTA 1000 final over the summer in Toronto.
Raducanu can take confidence from her only previous meeting against Stearns, ranked 49, having beaten her in Washington in her last regular tour event, 7-6(6) 6-2.
If Raducanu can advance again, she could be in line for another meeting with America’s Sloane Stephens, whom she has beaten in their previous 2 meetings.
Kasakina, the World No 13, could be an opponent in the 3rd round, all of which might serve Raducanu the chance to climb back into the Top 50 by the end of the year with no points to defend from 2023, having missed the second half of last year due to injury.
© Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Meanwhile, another Briton, Heather Watson, came through qualifying over the weekend and opened her main draw campaign with a 6-4 6-4 win over Chinese qualifier Lu Jia-Jing, setting up a 2nd-round encounter with Kostyuk, who dropped just 4 games against Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus, 6-3 6-1.
Day 1 action also saw 2022 champion Ekaterina Alexandrova, the 7th seed from Russia, get the better of 2014 finalist Lepchenko, now an American qualifier, 7-5 3-6 6-0, after winning the first set from 2-5 down, and saving 3 set points along the way.
Also advancing was Canadian qualifier Carol Zhao, who was a 6-4 6-1 winner over wild-card Dayson Back from Korea, and she next will play Shnaider, the 4th seed.
Veronika Kudermetova from Russia delivered China’s Zhang Shuai another loss, her 24th consecutive defeat this year, 6-4 6-3, to set up a meeting with 2nd-seeded compatriot Samsonova; while another Chinese, Yuan Yue, the 8th seed, defeated Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse, 4-6 6-2 6-2, and will be a test for either Raducanu or Stearns in round 2, who play on Tuesday.
