Iga Swiatek Clinches Third Title of 2025 Season
Iga Swiatek has clinched her third title of the 2025 season, emerging victorious at the Korea Open after a thrilling match against Ekaterina Alexandrova. This victory marks another significant achievement for Swiatek, who entered the tournament as the top seed and was the only player in the Top 10 participating. In recent months, Swiatek had expressed her frustration with the demanding tournament schedule, having previously withdrawn from the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on multiple occasions, yet she made a strong comeback after the US Open.
Tournament Journey
In the early rounds of the tournament, Swiatek demonstrated her dominance by overpowering opponents Sorana Cirstea, Barbora Krejcikova, and Maya Joint, conceding just ten games during her path to the final. Conversely, Alexandrova, the second seed and ranked 11th globally, also reached the final by defeating Lois Boisson, Ella Seidel, and Katerina Siniakova.
The Final Match
The final itself was a gripping contest. Initially, Swiatek struggled as Alexandrova surged ahead, claiming the first set with an impressive score of 6-1, aided by her performance that featured four aces. This left the world No. 2 searching for solutions as she entered the second set. Swiatek managed to break Alexandrova in the early stage of the second set, only to surrender that advantage shortly after.
With both players holding steady serves through the latter half of the set, a tiebreaker was necessary to decide its outcome. Swiatek found momentum, edging out Alexandrova 7-3 in the tiebreak to level the match.
As the deciding set unfolded, Alexandrova initially maintained control by breaking Swiatek’s serve, leading at 3-1. However, the top seed retaliated by breaking back to level the match at 3-3. The intensity continued with both players vying for breaks, yet neither could capitalize. As they approached a potential second tiebreaker at 5-5, Swiatek took decisive action, breaking Alexandrova once more to secure a hard-fought victory with final scores of 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5.
Post-Match Reflections
With this win, Iga Swiatek not only adds the WTA 500 title from Seoul to her accolades but also solidifies her status with three titles this season, following triumphs in Cincinnati and the US Open. In her post-match remarks, Alexandrova expressed her satisfaction with the week’s performances and congratulated Swiatek, acknowledging the Polish player’s remarkable skills and competitiveness.
“Thank you for coming today. You are an amazing crowd. It was such a pleasure to play in front of you tonight. I want to congratulate Iga on such a fantastic week and significant result. It’s always tough competing against her,” said Alexandrova.
