In what promises to be an entertaining conclusion to the WTA Seoul Open, top seed Jelena Ostapenko will take on second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final in the South Korean capital. Both players have looked sharp so far this week and both will be eager to generate some late season momentum with a title here. As always, we here at LWOT are offering our preview and prediction of the final. But who will come out on top?
WTA Seoul Final Prediction
Jelena Ostapenko vs Ekaterina Alexandrova
Head-to-head: Alexandrova 4-2 Ostapenko
Ostapenko started her week at the WTA Seoul Open with a hard-fought 6-4 3-6 7-6 win over home hope Jeong Bo-young and she was made to work hard again in the second round by Anastasia Gasanova but again hung tough to win it in the third set. The Latvian was back to her destructive in the quarterfinals, however, hammering the Andorran junior Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva for the loss of only three games. She then benefitted from Emma Raducanu’s third-set retirement to reach the final.
Alexandrova, meanwhile, opened her campaign with a see-sawing three-set win over Asia Muhammad before a more straightforward 6-1 6-3 win over South Korea’s Han Na-lae secured her spot in the last eight. Alexandrova then edged Switzerland’s Lulu Radovcic in two tight sets in the quarterfinals. That set up a semifinal clash with seventh seed Tatjana Maria. The German had been in fine form but was dismissed in the last four, with Alexandrova winning 6-2 6-4.
This match could probably go either way. Alexandrova has had the better of this rivalry, however, winning four of their six meetings including their most recent earlier this season in Madrid. She has also probably played the better tennis so far this week, with Ostapenko largely reliant on grit and determination to win her matches, though the Latvian has shown some flashes of brilliance. If that pattern continues in the final, expect Alexandrova to have the edge.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 3
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