The Sorana Cîrstea – Iga Swiak duel, from Seoul, lasted an hour and 34 minutes

Located at the first tournament played after the US Open, where he reached the second tour, Sorana Cîrstea came to face the Seoul with former WTA Swiak leader.

The Romanian had passed comfortably in the first round of Russia Anastasia Zakharova, 6-3, 6-1, which he had defeated in the semifinals of the WTA 250 tournament from Cleveland, on the way to the title.

But against Polish, the stakes, but also the hardness of the duel were many degrees above. Sorana entered the match wearing the heavy luggage of the five defeats from so many previous matches in front of the Wimbledon champion. Of these, four games on the hard, including the closest, first, from the Australian Open 2022, the only one with decisive set.

Sorana Cîrstea, the first set set after returning to 3-5

Accompanied by coach Adrian Cruciat and the physiotherapist Andrei Cristofor, the Romanian had a slow start start, losing his service twice. He then recovered a break, but once again he gave up on his service, after one of the longest games of the match, in which he canceled five chances of the opponent, not the sixth.

Swiatk drove with 5-1but the merit of the “tricolor” is that he did not give up, that he fought. After another game-mammoth on his service, in which he removed three sets of Polish set, he approached at 3-5 with another break. After all, however, the most twisted act of the match returned to the series 1 with 6-3.

IgA, and she played the first tournament, but also the first match after eliminating in the quarterfinals at the US Open, she looked a little unambiguous at times. But when everything was tied for her, she found spaces faster, she quickly changed the direction, putting Sorana in difficulty.

Swiatk in Straight Sets 💥@iga_swiatk Makes Her debut in the With A 6-3 seo, 6-2 Victory over Cirstea.#Koreaopen pic.twitter.com/apikospdju

– WTA (@wta) September 18, 2025

The second set had a simpler scenario: the former WTA leader made a break on the first occasion and ended with a break to win 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 34 minutes.

13Winning strokes had Sorana Cîrstea, while Iga Swiak gathered 19, at unforced errors the report being 16-21

17Chances of break had Polish, capitalizing on 6, the Romanian gathered 7, with two converts

Sorana Cîrstea, up three places ascended

“It is an extraordinary sensation, especially because of you, so thank you for coming and supported us”, Swiak to the public was addressed in the field interview.

“Certainly, the conditions are much different from the last tournament played, so I'm glad I could adapt quickly. I like it very much here, Seoul is nice when it doesn't rain so I'm happy to be here”She added

For qualifying in the second round, Sorana Cîrstea will receive 60 WTA points and a check of $ 15,700. This result also provides a climb in the world ranking, being still in the live hierarchy on 63, three positions above the current one. Only two players can exceed it, each if it conquers the title from Seoul.