Kwon Soon-woo crashes out of ATP Winston-Salem Open

Kwon Soon-woo returns a shot to Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain on Day 4 of the Winston-Salem Open at Wake Forest Tennis Complex on Aug. 24 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. [AFP/YONHAP]

Kwon Soon-woo was knocked out in the round of 32 at the ATP Tour Winston-Salem Open, losing to Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain two sets to one, on Tuesday evening.

Things were close at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina — Kwon, ranked 74th in the world, outperformed expectations by taking world No. 12 Busta all the way to the final set and going up to 3-3.

Although Kwon ended up losing the set 6-4 and dropping out from the tournament, it still was a good showing against a top player who very recently beat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Tokyo Olympics.

It was also a huge improvement on his previous match against Busta at the Andalucia Open this April, which he lost 2-0 in relatively uninspiring fashion.

Kwon's next competition is the US Open, the final major of the season. The US Open will kick off on Aug. 30 in New York.

BY JEON YOUNG-JAE [jeon.youngjae@joongang.co.kr]