All the Top 10 players ended up pulling out of the WTA Korea Open in Seoul, but it promises to be an exciting event nonetheless. On Day 1 of the singles main draw, the likes of Marta Kostyuk and Veronika Kudermetova will be kicking off their campaigns. Can Dayeon Back be the surprise package of the tournament again? Who do you think will come out on top? We also predict the rest of the matches in a separate article.

WTA Seoul Day 1 Predictions

Dayeon Back vs Carol Zhao

Head-to-head: First meeting

Dayeon Back was one of the stories of this event last year with her crazy upset over Jelena Ostapenko. She basically sliced the 2017 Roland Garros champion to death before winning just one game against Kimberly Birrell. Everything we’ve seen from Back since suggests that it was just a one-time peak performance with her opponent going into streaks of errors. Carol Zhao isn’t even doing particularly well at the moment, but after getting through the qualifying she should be able to handle Back here.
Prediction: Zhao in 3

Veronika Kudermetova vs Shuai Zhang

Head-to-head: Zhang 1-0

It seems like Shuai Zhang has to get that first singles win in ages somewhere, but it’s not coming so far. The Chinese has now lost 23 matches in a row over the last 19 months with her last victory coming in February. She came very close in Miami and at the US Open this year, but also suffered a lot of blowout losses, all the while remaining a successful doubles player. This hasn’t been a great season for Veronika Kudermetova and her erratic game might give Zhang a chance. The Russian loves the Asian Swing though and is definitely the favorite here.
Prediction: Kudermetova in 2

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Marta Kostyuk vs Arantxa Rus

Head-to-head: 1-1

These two played twice when Marta Kostyuk was still 16/17. The Ukrainian was already a touted prospect at the time, but now she’s turning into a real force on the WTA circuit. Her consistency has gone up considerably this year and it allowed to her to debut in the Top 20. Her ambitions lie even higher and she’ll now have to show she can threaten the very best. This is a match she should be winning on hard courts with the heavy topspin style of Arantxa Rus only really granting her big main tour results on clay.
Prediction: Kostyuk in 2

Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports