No. 1 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia advanced to the final of the Hana Bank Korea Open after No. 6 seed Emma Raducanu of Great Britain was forced to retire from Saturday’s semifinal.
Ostapenko, who won the event in Seoul in 2017, came from behind and was leading 4-6, 6-3, 3-0 when Raducanu conceded due to a left glute injury. Ostapenko finished with 40 winners, compared to 14 for Raducanu.
Ostapenko will meet No. 2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia on Sunday, with both seeking their second title of the season. Alexandrova ousted No. 7 Tatjana Maria of Germany 6-2, 6-4 in 69 minutes. Maria managed only two winners in the match, compared to 29 for Alexandrova.
Toray Pan Pacific Open
Unseeded Zheng Qinwen of China rallied to reach her first WTA Tour final with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over No. 4 seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in three hours and four minutes.
The semifinal victory in Tokyo was the 19-year-old’s fifth win against a Top 20 player this season.
She will face unseeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova, who improved to 17-1 in her last 18 matches with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory against China’s Zhang Shuai. Samsonova finished with 40 winners — including 13 aces — and 25 unforced errors.
–Field Level Media
