 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain holds her trophy after defeating Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan during the final of the Korea Open at Olympic Park in Seoul, Sunday. Martinez Sanchez won the match 7-6, 7-6. / AP-Yonhap |
By Yoon Chul
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain won the WTA Hansol Korea Open in Seoul, Sunday.
At the lone WTA Tour event held here, the 36th ranked Martinez Sanchez beat Galina Voskoboeva (82nd) of Kazakhstan 7-6 (0), 7-6 (2) at the Olympic Park.
Although the highest ranked players Francesca Schiavone of Italy (8th), Marion Bartoli of France (10th) were eliminated early domestic fans still enjoyed a quality game in the final.
“It was really tough match, I am really happy to win,” Maria Jose said after the game.
With the victory, Martinez Sanchez won prize money of $37,000.
The two finalists a had totally different playing styles. While the left-handed Spaniard looked to serve and volley the Kazakh displayed powerful strokes.
The slice serve of Martinez Sanchez often forced Voskoboeva wide giving her the opportunity to volley. In the first tiebreak the experience of the Spanish player showed and she did not allow her opponent to win a single point.
Voskoboeva played better in the second set, pulling up the success rate of her first serve and succeeding with several drop shots. She managed to force another tiebreak but Martinez Sanchez only gave up one point to win in straight sets.
![[INTERVIEW] Jung Woo-sung was initially hesitant to take on role in 'Hunt'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/49e565c241d44d48b7795a3f430ab658.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
