Jang Su-jeong, Sloane Stephens advance to quarterfinals at Korea Open

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Jang Su-jeong, Sloane Stephens advance to quarterfinals at Korea Open

Published: 18 Sep. 2024, 14:59 Updated: 18 Sep. 2024, 16:56

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Korean tennis player Jang Su-jeong, right, competes alongside Sloane Stephens of the United States in the round of 16 at the 2024 Hana Bank Korea Open at Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center in southern Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

Jang Su-jeong advanced to the doubles quarterfinals of the 2024 Hana Bank Korea Open alongside Sloane Stephens of the United States, becoming the only Korean still alive in the tournament as of press time Wednesday.

Jang and Stephens beat Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan and Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia 2-0 — 6-4 and 6-2 — in the round of 16 at Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center in southern Seoul on Monday. Korean duo Kim Da-bin and Kim Na-ri suffered a 2-0 — 7-5 and 6-4 — loss to Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Liudmila Samsonova of Russia in the same round on Tuesday.

The fall of the Kim duo — the only other Koreans who'd remained in the doubles round of 16 — left Jang to represent her country alone for the remainder of the tournament.

Both Korean competitors in the singles competition, Jang and Back Da-yeon, had ended their runs early after losing in the round of 32.

Jang lost 2-1 to Tomljanovic after a grueling match that lasted three hours and three minutes on Tuesday, and Back lost 2-0 to Carol Zhao of Canada the day before.

Korean tennis player Back Da-yeon competes in the 2024 Korea Open singles match against Carl Zhao of Canada at Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center in southern Seoul on Monday. [KOREA OPEN ORGANIZAING COMMITTEE]

The two Korean players’ early exit extends the country’s losing streak in the singles event at the Korea Open. No Korean player has ever reached the singles final in the tournament's history, although two players from Asia have won — Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm in 2009 and China's Zhu Lin in 2021.

Korean duos have won the tournament's doubles event three times, however, including Choi Ji-hee and Han Na-lae, most recently, in 2021. Neither Choi nor Han is competing this year.

Jang, who is making a record ninth appearance in the Korea Open this year, will play alongside Stephens in the doubles quarterfinal match against yet-to-be determined opponents on Thursday.

A victory in the doubles events would mark both Jang's and Stephens's first time lifting the trophy in the Korea Open.

Defending singles champion Jessica Pegula of the United States is not competing in this year's Korea Open due to an injury, but those who have yet to win the title and are expected to challenge for it include 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu.

Raducanu, 21, reached the singles round of 16 after beating Peyton Stearns of the United States in the previous round. Both the singles and doubles contests will continue through Sunday.

The winners of the Korea Open will earn 500 ranking points as the tournament is a WTA 500 competition.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]