Venus Williams to return to Seoul for WTA Korea Open

Venus Williams, former No. 1 and 7-time grand slam winner, will be participating in the Korea Open next month. Other notable players include defending champion Ekaterina Alexandrova, former champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 5 Jessica Pegula

Venus Williams serves to Belgium's Greet Minnen during a US Open first round match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, on Aug. 29. [AFP/YONHAP]

Former world No. 1 Venus Williams will compete at the WTA Korea Open next month, according to organizers Wednesday.

Venus, a seven-time grand slam winner and one half of the era-defining Williams sisters, returns to the Korea Open as a former champion, having won the tournament in 2007. She has 49 singles titles to her name and 22 doubles titles, falling behind only her younger sister Serena as the second-highest earning women’s tennis player of all time.

Venus joins a competitive field at the WTA 250 Hana Bank Korea Open this year, with defending champion Ekaterina Alexandrova, last year’s runner-up and former champion Jelena Ostapenko both already confirmed to compete again this year.

Also joining the lineup is half-Korean star Jessica Pegula, the current world singles No. 5 and doubles No. 1, who arrives in Seoul having reached the quarterfinals at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.

Born to a Korea-born mother and an American father, Pegula returns to the Korea Open for the first time since 2019, when she was knocked out in the first round.

This year, Pegula enters the tournament off the back of a win at the WTA 1000 Canadian Open earlier this year and in possibly the best form of her career, setting her up as a favorite in Seoul and one of the top seeds.

Pegula is descended from a sporting dynasty, with her parents owning the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League and the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League, as well as a number of other hockey and lacrosse teams.

Alexandrova won the 2022 edition of the Korea Open after beating Ostapenko in straight sets in the final at Olympic Park Tennis Center in Songpa District, southern Seoul. The pair had been two of the most popular competitors in the tournament — Ostapenko, a former French Open champion, is a fan favorite in Korea — alongside former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu, who was forced to withdraw in the semifinals due to a thigh injury.

Last year also saw a ATP Korea Open won by Yoshihito Nishioka in Jamsil, bringing some of the top men’s players on an unusual trip to Seoul. That tournament was held here due to Covid-19 lockdown rules in China, but will not be taking place again this year.

The 2023 WTA Hana Bank Korea Open runs from Oct. 9 to Oct. 15 at the Olympic Park Tennis Center.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]