Iga Swiatek continued her superb season by defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final of the Korea Open.
Swiatek battled past Alexandrova 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in Seoul, requiring two hours and 41 minutes to pull off the comeback.
She achieved success in the Korea Open final despite being outplayed by Alexandrova in almost every statistical category, including total points won.
The Pole now has three WTA titles for the 2025 season and 25 for her career, and is now 25-5 in WTA finals.
Swiatek was playing her first event since the US Open, where she fell in the quarterfinals to American Amanda Anisimova.
Iga Swiatek has message for Ekaterina Alexandrova after winning their Korea Open final
The champion was understandably delighted to return to winning ways, but she admirably spent time in her on-court interview with kind words for her latest opponent.
Swiatek said: “I want to congratulate Ekaterina for an amazing week and amazing final. I don’t know how I won it honestly.
“You were just playing great. I was just trying to stay alive. Congrats to your team as well. Great job. Hopefully we will play more finals.
“I want to thank my team as well. Sorry for being sometimes hard, thank you for the patience. It wasn’t an easy week. Thank you for staying with me.”
Ekaterina Alexandrova congratulates Iga Swiatek on Korea Open title
Alexandrova was visibly upset post-match, but the Russian experienced similar emotions as she lost grasp of the contest as it progressed.
She held a commanding lead over the former world number one, but fell agonisingly short of a sixth career title in Seoul.
But the world number 11 showed her class in her interview, saying: “Thank you for coming today. You are an amazing crowd. It was such a pleasure to play in front of you tonight. Thank you so much guys.
“I want to congratulate Iga for such a great week and such a great result. She’s such a great player. It’s always super difficult to play her.
“I tried to do my best today. It wasn’t enough, so maybe next time I’ll do a bit better. Congrats to you and your team. I wish you all the best for the rest of the season.”
The top two seeds both enjoyed fantastic runs in Seoul, where Alexandrova knocked out Lois Boisson, Ella Seidel and Katerina Siniakova.
The champion meanwhile defeated Sorana Cirstea, Barbora Krejcikova and Maya Joint en route to yet another WTA title.
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