Korea Open 2024 Preview: When is it, who is playing and what is the prize money?
The Asian hard court swing is about to get underway, with the newly upgraded Korea Open the standout tournament from the coming week.
And we, at Tennishead, have all you need to know about the new WTA 500 tournament:
When is the 2024 Korea Open?
The main draw of the Korea Open begins on Monday 16th September, with the tournament concluding on Sunday 22nd September.
Play on most days starts at 4am BST (12pm local time), and the qualifying draw will be conducted over the coming weekend (Saturday 14th September and Sunday 15th September).
Where is the Korea Open held?
The Korea Open is held in the capital city of Seoul, South Korea, at the Olympic Park Tennis Centre that hosted the 1988 Summer Games.
Within the Olympic complex there are 14 tennis courts, headlined by the main stadium court that can hold a total of 10,000 spectators.
Who is playing at the 2024 Korea Open?
With the Korea Open being held as a WTA 500 level event for the first time, it is attracting bigger players than ever with World No.1 Iga Swiatek as the top seed.
It will be Swiatek’s first time at the tournament, as she looks to bounce back from a disappointing quarter-final defeat at the US Open.
However, the five-time Grand Slam champion will face tough competition from the likes of fellow top 20 ranked players Daria Kasatkina, Liudmila Samsonova, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Diana Shnaider and Marta Kostyuk.
There are also two former champions in the draw in Ekaterina Alexandrova and Karolina Muchova.
Muchova has come off the back of reaching the US Open semi-finals for a second consecutive year, and will be looking to continue this form at the only tournament where she has won a WTA title before.
There has only been one wildcard awarded so far, with 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu the recipient.
Raducanu has received criticism for her recent lack of matchplay in recent months, but will make her second appearance in Seoul as part of a busier schedule in Asia.
How many ranking points are on offer at the 2024 Korea Open?
After being upgraded from a WTA 250 to WTA 500 level event, players will be even more motivated to go through the rounds and receive the more generous ranking points on offer.
Here is a breakdown of those ranking points on offer in Seoul next week:
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | Round of 16 | Round of 32 | Q | Q2 | Q1 |
| Singles | 500 | 325 | 195 | 108 | 60 | 1 | 25 | 13 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doubles | 1 | — | — | — | — |
What is the prize money fo the 2024 Korea Open?
The Korea Open will offer $922,573 in total prize money this year, which is a whopping 355% increase from the total jackpot last year after its upgrade. Unfortunately, there is no breakdown of this prize pot currently available.
Previous winners of the Korea Open
Last year saw Jessica Pegula, who has a Korean mother, win the singles title after beating Yue Yuan in a straight sets final victory.
Pegula had signed up to defend her title this year, but elected to withdraw after a busy North American hard court summer.
Interestingly, in the 20 years of the Korea Open the women’s singles title has never been won twice by the same person.
Here are all of the past 10 singles and doubles champions in Seoul:
| Year | Singles Champion | Doubles Champions |
| 2013 (WTA 250) | Agnieszka Radwańska | Chan Chin-wei & Xu Yifan |
| 2014 | Karolina Pliskova | Lara Arruabarrena & Irina-Camelia Begu |
| 2015 | Irina-Camelia Begu | Lara Arruabarrena (2) & Andreja Klepac |
| 2016 | Lara Arruabarrena | Kirsten Flipkens & Johanna Larsson |
| 2017 | Jelena Ostapenko | Kiki Bertens & Johanna Larsson (2) |
| 2018 | Kiki Bertens | Choi Ji-Hee & Han Na-Lae |
| 2019 | Karolina Muchova | Lara Arruabarrena (3) & Tatjana Maria |
| 2020 | Not held due to the Covid-19 Pandemic | – |
| 2021 (Downgraded to a WTA 125 tournament) | Zhu Lin | Choi Ji-Hee (2) & Han Na-Lae (2) |
| 2022 (Upgraded back to a WTA 250 tournament) | Ekaterina Alexandrova | Kristina Mladenovic & Yanina Wickmayer |
| 2023 | Jessica Pegula | Marie Bouzkova & Bethanie Mattek-Sands |
How can you watch the 2024 Korea Open?
You can watch the Korea Open on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as in other parts of Europe, or on Tennis Channel in the United States of America.
For more information on how to watch the newly upgraded tournament in your location, visit the official WTA website here.
READ MORE – Emma Raducanu Schedule: What is next for the 2021 US Open champion?
Join >> Receive $700/£600 of tennis gear from the Tennishead CLUB
Social >> Facebook, Twitter & YouTube
Read >> World’s best tennis magazine
Shop >> Lowest price tennis gear from our trusted partner
