Jelena Ostapenko makes smooth start to Korean Open title defence
Top seed and defending champion Jelena Ostapenko had no problems booking her place in the second round of the Korea Open.
The former French Open champion Ostapenko required just one hour and 14 minutes to beat Lara Arruabarrena from Spain 6-3, 6-3.
Tremendous from @jelenaostapenk8 !
She beats @laraarrua 6-3, 6-3 in #Seoul ! pic.twitter.com/YhKfzO1Vur
— WTA (@WTA) September 19, 2018
“She’s a very good player and very consistent,” the Latvian said. “Today was a good match for me, especially for the first round because first rounds are always tough.”
Next up for Ostapenko is Ekatarina Alexandrova while Hsieh Su-wei is a possible quarter-final opponent after the Korean beat Stefanie Voegele 6-2, 6-1 her second-round match.
Second seed Kiki Bertens also advanced to the round two as she secured a 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 victory over Luksika Kumkhum, but eighth seed Kirsten Flipkens crashed out as she was beaten 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 by Evgeniya Rodina.
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