Marta Kostyuk is making her debut at the 2024 Korea Open in Seoul. The Ukrainian has had a great season and is her country’s No. 1 player (currently ranked 18th in the WTA rankings), surpassing the accomplished Elina Svitolina.

Kostyuk is 31-17 and the only thing missing from her season is a title. She has performed very well on hard courts, amassing 21 wins, which make up the most of her total match wins on the WTA Tour this year. She will be fancying her chances in a depleted field in Korea as a host of Top 10 players have withdrawn. 

Arantxa Rus has a 28-27 record at all levels this season and is ranked 84th in the world rankings, much lower than Kostyuk. Rus is a veteran in the sport, having been on the Tour for over a decade. She achieved a career-high ranking of No. 41 last year after winning the Hamburg Open, her first WTA title.

The 33-year-old last competed at the US Open, where she lost to Emma Navarro in the second round. Rus has only eight wins from 18 matches on hard courts and has yet to defeat a Top 20 player this season.

Marta Kostyuk vs Arantxa Rus Head-To-Head

• Kostyuk and Rus are tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head at all levels but haven’t played each other since 2019.

Marta Kostyuk vs Arantxa Rus Prediction

Rus is a natural clay-court player whose excellent ability on the surface doesn’t quite stack up to hard courts. She won her only meeting against Kostyuk on hard courts, but that was six years ago when the Ukrainian was still a teenager and had yet to establish herself on Tour. This time, Kostyuk is a fully-fledged Top 20 player and has 21 wins on hard courts, which is over twice that of Rus’ number in 2024.