Iga Swiatek pulls off exquisite comeback to claim Korea Open title in Seoul against Ekaterina Alexandrova

Two points from defeat, Iga Swiatek managed to pull it out of the fire and claimed the Korea Open on Sunday in Seoul after a pretty hectic few days for the Wimbledon champion.

Swiatek saw off a tough opponent in Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final with the Russian seeming to be on her way to a superb win. But her plan was thwarted by Swiatek who managed to find the keys to comeback from the brink.

It is a 25th title of her career at just 24 years old and her 57th win of the year on tour. More than any other player as she steps up her bid to become World No.1 again by the end of the season.

It has been an interesting few days for Swiatek who had to play twice yesterday against Barbora Krejcikova and Maya Joint to move into the final. Two matches that in reality were pretty one sided in favour of the Polish ace who was perhaps expected at least against Krejcikova to have more of an issue getting over the line.

This after she saw off Sorana Cirstea on Thursday in what was a late start to her campaign. But Alexandrova was a completely different kettle of fish entirely as she nearly lost it in the second set tie-break. Alexandrova came out the traps and won the opening set 6-1 in a warning shot fired to Swiatek.

Alexandrova led for the majority going 4-3 up in the second set but pivotal to Swiatek's charge was that Alexandrova didn't break her serve and so she stayed resolute. Albeit this meant that given the fact there was literally no opportunities on either side that a tie-break was needed.

A tiebreak which saw Swiatek surge 3-0 and 5-2 ahead. Alexandrova came back to add one more point but Swiatek managed to claim the second set 7-6 to add to her tally to continue the tie.

Into the final set and it looked like Alexandrova was set to win as she did most of the running. She broke to begin the third set at 2-1 and then held emphatically but she faced the roadblock that was Swiatek breaking back for 3-3. Her serve continued to be troubled as Alexandrova made it 4-4 but Swiatek's did as well as she managed to surge ahead to 5-4 albeit with two break points on Alexandrova's end going begging. In the end Swiatek broke to complete the win on the second match point.

Ironically Alexandrova won 11 more points than Swiatek but still managed to lose. “I want to congratulate Ekaterina for an amazing week and amazing final. I don’t know how I won it honestly. You were just playing great. I was just trying to stay alive. Congrats to your team as well. Great job. Hopefully we will play more finals," said Swiatek post match. "I want to thank my team as well. Sorry for being sometimes… hard thank you for the patience. It wasn’t an easy week. Thank you for staying with me.”

While it was more of a sombre tone for the defeated finalist. “Thank you for coming today. You are an amazing crowd. It was such a pleasure to play in front of you tonight. Thank you so much guys. I want to congratulate Iga for such a great week and such a great result. She’s such a great player. It’s always super difficult to play her. I tried to do my best today. It wasn’t enough, so maybe next time I’ll do a bit better. Congrats to you and your team. I wish you all the best for the rest of the season," said Alexandrova.

Both now head on to the China Open next week as the Asian Hard Court swing continues.