Yue Yuan vs Dayeon Back — R32 — Korea Open

Dayeon Back, a 24-year-old Korean wild card ranked WTA No. 270, beat Yue Yuan in three sets in the Korea Open round of 32. The betting market had favored Yuan, ranked WTA No. 132, at 77%. The match ran 2 hours 39 minutes. Yuan broke first, in game 3 of the opening set, and Back answered in game 6 to level at 3-3 before breaking in game 8 and again in game 9 to take it 6-3. The second set began the other way: Yuan broke in games 2 and 4 for a 4-0 lead. Back recovered two of those breaks, to 2-5 and then 4-5, but Yuan closed out the set 6-4. In the decider Back broke in game 3 and in game 5 for 4-1, and Yuan converted none of her four break points in the set. Back won 50% of her return games to Yuan's 31%. Every tour-level match on Back's record has come at this event; her previous win here came in 2023 against Jelena Ostapenko, followed by three straight Seoul losses. Yuan reached the 2023 final here, losing to Jessica Pegula, and this was her first match on record since a Transylvania Open quarterfinal in February.