Jessica Pegula (30, USA, 3rd), who reached the final of a major tournament for the first time in her career at the US Open this year, has withdrawn from the Korea Open on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, which begins on the 16th. The reason is a rib injury.
Pegula, whose mother is of Korean descent, won the Korea Open singles final last year by defeating Yuan Yue (26, China, 38th) 2-0 (6-2, 6-3). In an interview on court at the time, Pegula said, “I’m half-Korean, my mother was adopted from Korea,” and added, “I’m sorry I can’t speak Korean. But I love Korean barbecue and kimchi. It’s special to win here, and I’ll come back next year.”
For Pegula, the Korea Open was a tournament that created special memories. Pegula’s mother, Kim Pegula, was born in Seoul in 1969 and was adopted by American parents in 1974 and grew up in New York. Kim Pegula is also famous as a self-made billionaire. Pegula’s parents, Tenney and Kim Pegula, are the owners of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL) and are one of the top businessmen in the United States with businesses in natural gas, real estate, sports, and entertainment.
Pegula first visited Korea with her mother in 2019 to participate in this competition. It was also her first time visiting Korea. During the visit, the mother and daughter visited the orphanage where Kim Pegula stayed before being adopted. Pegula said, “Even though my mother couldn’t speak Korean, Asian and Korean people were very proud of her. That’s when I realized the importance of my roots.”
Pegula will not be able to challenge for a second consecutive title due to his withdrawal from this tournament. However, this year’s tournament is expected to see the participation of the current No. 1 player for the first time since its inception in 2004. French Open champion and world No. 1 Iga Swiatek (23, Poland) is on the list of players to compete in the Korea Open.
Swiatek lost 0-2 (2-6, 4-6) to Pegula in the quarterfinals of this year’s US Open. Swiatek, who packed up early in the US Open, plans to regain her confidence in the Korea Open, which will be held on the same hard court. In addition to Swiatek, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu (22, UK, 72nd) will also be participating in this year’s tournament.
The Korea Open, the only WTA tour tournament in Korea, was first held in 2004 with Maria Sharapova (37, Russia) as its first champion. Since then, it has produced many great players who have gone on to play in major tournaments, including Venus Williams (44, USA, 2007), Karolina Pliskova (32, Czech Republic, 2014), Jelena Ostapenko (27, Latvia, 2017), and Karolina Muchova (28, Czech Republic, 2019). This tournament, now in its 20th year, has been promoted to a WTA 500 tournament.
Reporter Im Bo-mi [email protected]
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2024-09-14 03:36:32