Kostyuk cruises past Rus in Korea Open

SEOUL: No. 5 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine started her Korea Open campaign with a commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory over Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands on Monday in Seoul. Despite struggling with 10 double faults, Kostyuk showcased her resilience by converting six of 14 break points, securing the win in just 78 minutes.

Kostyuk will face Britain’s Heather Watson in the second round after Watson defeated China’s Jia-Jing Lu 6-4, 6-4 in a tight match.

Elsewhere, No. 7 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia overcame a three-set battle to beat Varvara Lepchenko 7-5, 3-6, 6-0, while China’s eighth-seeded Yue Yuan rallied to defeat Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Canada’s Carol Zhao and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova also advanced to the next round.