Iga Swiatek defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 to win the 2025 Korea Open championship on Sunday, capping out her Asian hardcourt career in spectacular fashion.
Despite a difficult start to the season, the Pole has been in excellent shape since her Wimbledon victory, and this win strengthens her attempt to end the season well.
The world number two lost the first set following a clumsy effort that was significantly inconsistent with her dominant play this week in Seoul.
Alexandrova, ranked eleventh in the world, was two points from capturing the championship, but Swiatek rallied to square the match after a tiebreak, then settled into a groove in the third set.
With the victory, the six-time Grand Slam winner from Poland won her maiden championship in the South Korean city and her third of the season.
Iga Swiatek vs Ekaterina Alexandrova: How much money did they take home?
Alexandrova won $101,000, while Swiatek took home a substantial $164,000 from the tournament’s $1,064,510 total prize fund.
After losing in the semifinals, Katerina Siniakova and the Maya Joint received $59,000 each.
Barbora Krejcikova, a two-time Grand Slam champion, qualifier Ella Seidel, third seed Clara Tauson, and unseeded Suzan Lamens all received $28,695 for making it to the quarterfinals.
In the meanwhile, players who lost in the second round of the Korea Open collected $15,700 each. These players included fourth seed Daria Kasatkina, fifth seed Diana Shnaider, sixth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, seventh seed Sofia Kenin, Emma Raducanu, Sorana Cirstea, Eva Lys, and Louis Boisson.
Full prize list here:
Champion: $164,000
Runner-up: $101,000
Semi-finalists: $59,000
Quarter-finalists: $28,695
Round 2: $15,700
Round 1: $11,300
Here’s what Iga Swiatek said after her Korean Open win
Swiatek stated that she was “happy that I could win here because of the family history”, referring to her father, Tomasz, who competed in the rowing at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
“My dad couldn’t win the Olympics but at least I won this tournament,” she added, hoping that her father would come next year to enjoy everything.
