Tennis-Swiatek battles back to win Korea Open title

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SEOUL (Reuters) -A tenacious Iga Swiatek battled back from the brink of defeat to capture the Korea Open title on Sunday, surviving a fright in the first set before taming Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 1-6 7-6(3) 7-5.

Swiatek, who cruised through her first three matches in Seoul, looked out of sorts in the opening two sets, committing several double faults and sending many shots flying long and wide.

However, the world number two ironed out the errors and got a handle on her opponent’s game, wrapping up victory after more than two and a half hours.

It was the Pole’s third trophy of the year, adding to her triumphs at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Open.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I won it, because you were just playing great. I just tried to stay alive,” Swiatek said.

“Hopefully, we’re going to play more finals. It’s always tough against you, so it’s also entertaining.”

SWIATEK MAKES UP FOR FAMILY FAILURE

Swiatek also joked that her win had made up for her father Tomasz’s failure to win a medal with the Polish rowing team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

“I’m happy that I could win here because of the family history, and my dad couldn’t win the Olympics, but at least I won this tournament, so hopefully he’s going to come here next year to enjoy everything,” she added.

Alexandrova, who won the Korea Open in 2022, took advantage of her opponent’s early struggles and broke serve three times in the opening set to put herself in the driving seat.

The pair traded breaks early in the second set and Alexandrova continued to pile the pressure on Swiatek, finding herself just a couple of points away from victory after taking a 30-15 lead at 6-5.

Despite having her opponent on the ropes, however, the Russian could not finish her off, and Swiatek took the set into a tiebreaker, where she raced to a 3-0 lead and held on to it to force a decider.

There was another twist in a high-quality third set as Swiatek served three double faults in one game to gift Alexandrova a break, but she quickly brought the game back on serve and dialled up the intensity.

A deflated-looking Alexandrova could only watch as six-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek hit a pinpoint forehand winner to snatch victory and complete her comeback.

“She’s such a great player and it’s always super difficult to play against her, so I tried to do my best today. It wasn’t enough, so maybe next time I will be a little bit better,” Alexandrova said.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)