Park So-hyun (World No. 451, Seongnam City Hall, sponsored by CJ CheilJedang) has advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2023 NH Bank International Women’s Tennis Tour (Nonghyup Challenger).
Park easily defeated Destanie Iaba 먹튀검증 (AUS), ranked 331st in the world, 6-3 6-0 in the second round of the 2023 Nonghyup Challenger at Nonghyup University All-Won Tennis Park in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, on Friday. The match lasted just one hour and 12 minutes, with Park in complete control.
After an exploratory first set at 3-3, it was all Park. She neutralized her opponent’s power advantage by matching her in a power battle, and took control of the match with impeccable stroke accuracy. After 3-3, Park never dropped a game and finished the match with ease. Iaba’s defensive play was too much for her to handle and she made a series of unforced errors in the second set.
Park has been attracting attention with her pink outfit at this tournament. She wore a pink top and bottom jersey, shoes, racket, and strings. Even her tumbler is pink. The only non-pink items were her sun cap and grip (white).
“Yesterday, I did a thorough analysis of my opponent,” Park said. She tends to end rallies quickly, within five balls, so I thought I had a good chance of winning if I could hold on to the early game. I’m happy that I was able to finish the match more easily than I expected,” she said, adding, “I don’t usually wear pink. It just so happened that all of our sponsors’ gear this season is pink. But I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on this uniform, and I think it makes me stand out on the court, so I like it. For tomorrow’s match, I will try to match my skirt with a different color.”
Park will play the winner of the match between Baek Da-yeon (NH Bank) and Jang Hannah (USA) for a spot in the semifinals. The quarterfinals are scheduled for June 26.