Hannarae Hong Sung-chan wins first round of qualifying. He will play the top seed in the second round.

Qualifying for the final Grand Slam of the season, the US Open, has begun, and Korean duo Han Na-rae (Bucheon City Hall) and Hong Seong-chan (Sejong City Hall) got off to a winning start. They will face the top seeds in the second round of qualifying.

On Feb. 22 (local time), the duo won the first round of US Open qualifying in New York, USA, 2-0.

Playing in the women’s singles event on Court 15, Han (ranked 243rd in the world) defeated Victoria Jimenez Casincheva (Andorra, ranked 202nd in the world) 6-3 6-3.

Han broke three times in a row to start the first set. In the second set, she never dropped a break and completed the victory in 1 hour and 17 minutes.

While the first serve metrics were similar for both players, it was the second serve that decided the match. Both players won 63% of their second serves (10/16), Hanrae 26% (6/23). This means that Kashintseva’s second serve was easily taken advantage of by Han.

This is the second time she has reached the second round of qualifying after the Australian Open, her first Grand Slam of the year, and the first time in nearly seven months that she has won a match at a Grand Slam & WTA+ ranked event that is not on the ITF World Tour, since the first round of the Thailand Open (WTA 250) in February of this year.

Playing on Court 14, Hong (ranked 203rd in the world) defeated Francesco Passaro (Italy, ranked 173rd) 7-6(3) 6-4. Despite a first-serve accuracy rate of just 40 percent, Hong made the most of his service opportunities, converting 64 percent (25-of-39) of his second-serve points.

In the first set tiebreak, he scored on both of Pasarro’s service points to open up the gap. In the second set, he capitalized on his service opportunities. Although he conceded a break in his first service game, he did not give his opponent any chances in the rest of his service games, conceding only three points in total.

Han Na-rae and Hong Seong-chan will both face top seeds in the second round of qualifying.

Han will face eighth-seeded Lucrezia Stefanini (ITA, World No. 103). Stefanini has only been knocked out of the French Open this year, but has made the main draw at both other Grand Slams (2nd round Australian Open, 1st round Wimbledon). This will be their first meeting. 토토사이트

Hong will take on fourth-seeded Taro Daniel (Japan, world No. 95). Daniel reached the second round at the Western & Southern Open last week, restoring his world ranking back into the top 100. This will also be their first meeting.

Han and Hong will play the second round of qualifying after a day’s rest. Jang Soo-ju (Daegu City Hall) will compete in the first round of qualifying on Nov. 23 (local time).