World No. 155 Jang Su-jeong wins Nodia Open

Jang Su-jeong (27) won the Women’s Tennis Association (TWA) 125 title at the Nordea Open. Jang beat Rebeka Masarova of Spain (world No. 146) 2-1 in the final of the women’s singles competition of the Nordea Open, which took place in Bastad, Sweden on Saturday. Coincidently, the final of women’s singles competition at the Wimbledon took place in the U.K. on the day.

Jang, who lost in the third round of the Wimbledon qualifying tournament to fail in her bid to advance to the finals, was atop among candidates, but narrowly missed an opportunity to join the finals as none of other seeded players withdrew. Jang thus experienced a bitter memory at the time, but has replaced that memory with her first ever ‘career title.’ Jang, who is ranked 155th in world rankings, did not give even a single set through the finals in the latest tournament to secure 2-0 wins repeatedly.

Jang defeated other higher seeded players including Clara Burel of France (world No. 95), and Panna Udvardy of Hungary (world No. 100), until she lost the first set in the face of Masarova’s powerful serves. However, she managed to put the brake on the opponent’s serve game twice thereafter with her robust forehand attacks from the second set to reverse the match.

Jang became the runner-up after losing 1-2 in the final match of the same WTA series five years ago in Honolulu. By winning the title in the latest tournament, she has become the player who has won the biggest women’s tennis event among Korean players since Lee Deok-hee won the Fort Myers WTA title in 1982. The WTA 125 is a tournament just one grade under the WTA Tour and brings together players who are ranked 100th and up in world rankings.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com