By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, September 22, 2024
Seven years after losing the Seoul final, Beatriz Haddad Maia returned to take the title with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Daria Kasatkina.
Photo credit: Seoul Korea Open Facebook
Beatriz Haddad Maia showed Seoul power to capture the Korean Open crown.
Haddad Maia streaked through the final five games in a row defeating Daria Kasatkina 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 to collect her fourth career championship today.
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The left-handed Brazilian scored her 12th victory in her last 14 matches, winning Seoul after she was a finalist in Cleveland and a quarterfinalist at the US Open.
This was at topsy-turvy final with the top-seeded Kasatkina tearing through the final five games of the first set to snatch a one-set lead after 26 minutes.
Contesting her fifth WTA 500 final of the year, Kasatkina broke to start the second set, stretching her lead to 6-1, 3-1.
The Russian was three games from the title, but Haddad Maia was just finding her groove.
The third seed reeled off 12 of the next 15 points to take a 4-3 lead and turn the set around.
Haddad Maia saved a break point holding for 5-4 then broke again to snatch the second set and force a decider.
Superior serving carried Haddad Maia through the finish line. Haddad Maia won al 17 of 22 points played on her serve in the decider, including sweeping all 10 of her first-serve points in the last set.
This is Haddad Maia's fourth career championship and it comes seven years after she was runner-up to Jelena Ostapenko in the 2017 Seoul final.
Kasatkina dropped to 7-11 in WTA finals.