The Korean Open continues as Liudmila Samsonova faces Veronika Kudermetova while Marta Kostyuk goes up against Heather Watson in the round of 16. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 WTA Tour – WTA 500
Korea Open
Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Centre
Selected RO 16 matches – 18 September
Liudmila Samsonova 51/100 | Veronika Kudermetova 15/10
This has been another steady season for big-serving Russian Liudmila Samsonova. She enjoyed a potent end to her 2023 campaign, finishing runner-up at the WTA 1000 events in Montreal and Beijing. She struggled in the early part of the season, only coming to life with a solid semifinal run at the Abu Dhabi Open.
She would go on to win a 5th career title at the Rosmalen event (her dynamic serve makes her a formidable grass-court competitor). And she was uber-consistent on the North American hardcourts, reaching back-to-back WTA 1000 quarterfinals in Toronto and Cincinnati.
She then produced a highly creditable display at the year’s final slam, bowing out to World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the round of 16. She has managed to claw her way back into the top 15 in the world rankings and she will be hoping for yet another strong late-season surge.
Samsonova is a player who really plays in spurts, rising to prominence by winning three titles in a month in late 2022.
Completing this all-Russian clash is former top-ten player Veronika Kudermetova. But this has turned into a torrid campaign for Kudermetova. She has only reached one quarterfinal in 20 events this season (some decent doubles results have prevented this from being a complete right-off of a season).
She is barely hanging onto her top 50 ranking after winning just 12 tour-level matches this season. It’s hard to really discern what has happened to the hard-hitting Russia. She reached seven WTA finals between January 2021 and October 2023 (she lost to Jessica Pegula in the final of last year’s Pan Pacific Open).
But the fearless hitter has turned into an error machine this season. She did pick up a morale-boosting win in her Seoul opener, taking down Zhang in a comfortable straight-sets win. She will be aiming to make it consecutive WTA victories for the first time since Charleston.
The Verdict: Kudermetova to win in three sets 48/10
Kudermetova leads her compatriot 4-2 in their head-to-head rivalry, leading 2-1 in their hardcourt meetings. Three of their last four meetings have gone to a final set and it will be interesting to see if Kudermetova can raise her game against a familiar foe.
This could be more competitive than recent form suggests. Players in poor form often elevate their game against compatriots (whose games they tend to know inside and out). Kudermetova just needs to play slightly within herself, and she could stand a chance here.
Marta Kostyuk 23/100 | Heather Watson 3/1
22-year-old Marta Kostyuk has enjoyed a true breakthrough campaign, finishing runner-up at WTA 500 events in San Diego and Stuttgart. She reached a maiden WTA 1000 semifinal at Indian Wells and reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in Melbourne.
She has accumulated a solid 28-16 record for the season, but it has been a tale of two halves. She reached five quarterfinals- or better- by the end of the Stuttgart Open: she hasn’t reached a quarterfinal since. Having said that, her performances haven’t been atrocious in recent months.
She was on the verge of some excellent WTA 1000 results in America, reaching the round of 16 in Toronto and Cincinnati (where she was beaten by Navarro and Swiatek respectively). She then pushed eventual US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro to three sets in their 3rd round US Open clash. So, it would be naïve to dismiss Kostyuk due to recent form.
Former British No.1 Heather Watson has endured a horrid 2024 that sees her languishing at 183 in the current live rankings. The former Wimbledon quarterfinalist has reached five WTA finals in her career (all on hardcourts).
However, the last of those came all the way back in 2020. The big-serving Brit has essentially turned into a grass-court specialist in recent years, looking to accumulate enough points during the grass-court swing to keep her otherwise ordinary season afloat. She reached the 4th round at Wimbledon in 2022 and the Nottingham semifinals last year.
She probably just produced her best individual performance of the season, beating Ja-Jing Lu in straight sets to open her Seoul account. She served impressively against the Korean, firing down five aces and winning a staggering 88% of her first-serve points. This was only her 3rd tour level in what has been a poor season.
The Verdict: Kostyuk to win in three sets 31/10
Kostyuk leads the head-to-head 1-0, beating the Brit in three sets all the way back at the 2018 Brisbane International. It is a bit of a stretch to think Watson can nick a set-off Kostyuk.
It’s honestly just the only way to extricate some value from this match. Kostyuk has tailed off slightly in the 2nd half of the season while Watson served as well as she has in ages in her opening win.
