World No. 1 Swiatek to play at Korea Open tennis tournament

Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with her trophy after winning against Italy's Jasmine Paolini during the French Open in Paris, June 8. Reuters-Yonhap

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek will play in the lone annual WTA tournament in Korea next month, the event's organizers said Sunday.

Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, will headline the Korea Open, which starts off with qualifying matches on Sept. 14 at Olympic Park Tennis Center in Seoul. The final will be Sept. 22.

The 23-year-old Polish star will be the first current No. 1 player to appear at the Korea Open since the tournament was first held in 2004.

Swiatek will be joined by two other top-10 players: the defending champion Jessica Pegula (No. 6) and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina (No. 4).

Former world No. 1 and 2014 Korea Open champion, Karolina Pliskova, and the 2019 Korea Open winner Karolina Muchova will return to Seoul.

Other stars include Emma Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion who reached the semifinals at the 2022 Korea Open, and Daria Kasatkina, the 2022 French Open semifinalist.

The Korea Open has been elevated from WTA 250, the lowest level of tour events, to WTA 500, meaning the champion will earn 500 world ranking points. The purse has been raised from about $260,000 to $1 million. (Yonhap)