Preview Notes: Keb Hana Bank Korea Open Seoul, South Korea | September 17-23, 2018 | Usd $250,000
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PREVIEW NOTES: KEB HANA BANK KOREA OPEN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA | SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2018 | USD $250,000 WTA Website: www.wtatennis.com | @WTA | facebook.com/wta Tournament Website: https://www.koreaopentennis.com WTA Communications: Darrelle Eng ([email protected]) SAP Tennis Analytics for Media is an online portal that provides real-time data and insights to media during every WTA event and across all devices. Please email [email protected] to request your individual login to grant access to SAP Tennis Analytics for Media. SEOUL QUICK FACTS Main draw dates: Monday, September 17 - Sunday, September 23, 2018 Singles Final: Sunday, September 23, 2pm Doubles Final: Sunday, September 23, after singles final Venue: Olympic Tennis Courts Status: WTA International event Staging: Tournament’s 15th year Draw sizes: 32 singles / 16 doubles teams / 24 singles qualifying Surface: Hard / Outdoors Total prize money: USD $250,000 Tennis Ball: Dunlop Fort 2017 Singles Final: [1] Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) d. Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) 6-7(5) 6-1 6-4 2017 Doubles Final: [1] Kiki Bertens/Johanna Larsson (NED/SWE) d. Luksika Kumkhum/Peangtarn Pilpuech (THA/THA) 6-4 6-1 PRIZE MONEY AND RANKING POINT BREAKDOWN RANK RANK SINGLES USD $ DOUBLES USD $ POINTS POINTS Winner 43,000 280 Winner 12,300 280 Runner-Up 21,400 180 Runner-Up 6,400 180 Semifinalist 11,500 110 Semifinalist 3,435 110 1,820 Quarterfinalist 6,175 60 Quarterfinalist 60 Round of 16 3,400 30 Round of 16 960 1 Round of 32 2,100 1 RECENT PREVIOUS CHAMPIONS AND RUNNERS-UP YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP 2017 Jelena Ostapenko Beatriz Haddad Maia 2016 Lara Arruabarrena Monica Niculescu 2015 Irina-Camelia Begu Aliaksandra Sasnovich 2014 Karolina Pliskova Varvara Lepchenko 2013 Agnieszka Radwanska Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2012 Caroline Wozniacki Kaia Kanepi 2011 María José Martínez Sánchez Galina Voskoboeva Blue highlight denotes player competing in the 2018 Korea Open Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA 1 PREVIEW NOTES: KEB HANA BANK KOREA OPEN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA | SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2018 | USD $250,000 MAIN DRAW QUICK HITS (excludes qualifiers) Singles wildcards: Choi Ji-Hee (KOR), Jang Su-Jeong (KOR), Park Sohyun (KOR) Youngest singles player: Park Sohyun, 16 (July 2, 2002) Oldest singles player: Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 33 (March 23, 1985) Singles withdrawals: Sorana Cirstea (shoulder), Ekaterina Makarova (right thigh), Tatjana Maria (dental pain) Main draw debutantes: Choi Ji-Hee (KOR), Margarita Gasparyan (RUS), Dalila Jakupovic (SLO), Park Sohyun (KOR), Evgeniya Rodina (RUS), Tamara Zidansek (SLO) TOURNAMENT TALKING POINTS Jelena Ostapenko returns to South Korea as No.1 seed to defend the title she won – her second at WTA level – against Beatriz Haddad Maia 12 months ago Ostapenko begins against 2016 champion Lara Arruabarrena, while No.2 seed Kiki Bertens has been drawn to face Luksika Kumkhum first up Two other former champions are in the draw, Irina-Camelia Begu and former World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska Mandy Minella – one of two mothers in the draw, along with Evgeniya Rodina – will contest the 800th match of her career should she advance to the semifinals One to Watch – Twenty-year-old Tamara Zidansek is appearing in just her sixth WTA main draw this week, however, judging by her recent progress she is likely to be a fixture at this level for years to come. A serial champion on the ITF Circuit this year, the Slovene arrives in South Korea with 51 match wins to her name for the year – results which have seen her rise over 120 places since February TOP FOUR SEEDS’ PREVIOUS TOURNAMENT HISTORY PLAYER TOURNAMENT MAIN DRAW HISTORY WIN-LOSS WIN % [1] Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) WON (1): 2017 (d. Beatriz Maia in F) 5-0 1.000 [2] Kiki Bertens (NED) QF (1): 2012 (l. Kanepi) 2-4 0.333 1r (3): 2014 (l. Koukalova), 2015 (l. Duque-Mariño), 2017 (l. Hogenkamp) [3] Maria Sakkari (GRE) 1r (1): 2016 (l. Zhang) 0-1 0.000 [4] Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) QF (2): 2009 (l. Medina Garrigues), 2014 (l. McHale) 6-5 0.545 2r (2): 2012 (l. Koukalova), 2015 (l. Sasnovich) 1r (1): 2008 (l. Wickmayer) Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA 2 PREVIEW NOTES: KEB HANA BANK KOREA OPEN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA | SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2018 | USD $250,000 COUNTRY BREAKDOWN Excluding qualifiers, a total of 18 countries are represented in the main draw, led by Russia, Slovenia and South Korea with three players each: Australia (1) Ajla Tomljanovic Belgium (2) Kirsten Flipkens, Alison Van Uytvanck Chinese Taipei (1) Hsieh Su-Wei Greece (1) Maria Sakkari Latvia (1) Jelena Ostapenko Luxembourg (1) Mandy Minella Netherlands (1) Kiki Bertens Poland (1) Agnieszka Radwanska Romania (1) Irina-Camelia Begu Russia (3) Ekaterina Alexandrova, Margarita Gasparyan, Evgeniya Rodina Slovakia (2) Magdalena Rybarikova, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova Slovenia (3) Polona Hercog, Tamara Zidansek South Korea (3) Choi Ji-Hee, Jang Su-Jeong, Park Sohyun Spain (1) Lara Arruabarrena Sweden (1) Johanna Larsson Switzerland (1) Stefanie Voegele Thailand (1) Luksika Kumkhum United States (1) Bethanie Mattek-Sands WTA TV – LIVE ACTION FROM SEOUL Every main draw match from Seoul is LIVE and ON DEMAND on wtatv.com. Catch all the action at home or on the go. You won’t want to miss a minute of this year’s star-studded lineup in both singles and doubles. Want to watch multiple matches at once? On WTA TV, you can watch up to four matches simultaneously with the multibox feature. Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA 3.