De la Puente earns Korea first; Schroder, Van Koot boost ITF 1 haul
Martin de la Puente completed a unique Spanish double after the world No.3 clinched his first career singles title in Asia with victory at the Seoul Korea Open, where Aniek van Koot and Sam Schroder secured a Dutch double in the women’s singles and quad singles.
After his compatriot Daniel Caverzaschi had won the first of Korea Republic’s two ITF 1 Series tournaments on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour with victory at the Daegu Open, world No.3 De la Puente justified top seeding in Seoul as he put his February loss to Stephane Houdet in Rotterdam firmly behind him to win their latest meeting 6-2 6-3.
Having now won six of his last seven matches against Houdet, de la Puente sealed his maiden title on Asian soil without dropping a set and his last seven singles titles since the start of the 2023 season have now all come at ITF 1 Series level.
Meanwhile, De la Puente left Seoul with both singles and doubles titles after partnering Ruben Spaargaren to their third career title together and their second ITF 1 title of 2025.
This season’s Victorian Open champions and second seeds beat Caverzaschi and Houdet 6-2 6-1 to deny the top seeds of the opportunity of adding to their Daegu Open men’s doubles title.
Van Koot retains Seoul Korea Open title she first won in 2012
It’s 13 years since Aniek van Koot justified top seeding to win the first of what are now three Seoul Korea Open women’s singles titles and 12 months ago she regained the title when starting the tournament as second seed and denying Chinese eighth seed Wang Ziying in the final.
Fast forward 12 months and top seed Van Koot thwarted Chinese title ambitions once again after joining Wang, Zhu Zhenzhen and Li Xiaohui in the semi-finals, with the Chinese players looking to complete a clean sweep of Korea Republic’s premier tournaments on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour after Li’s victory at the Busan Open and Wang’s victory in Daegu.
However, on this occasion it was Zhu who was China P.R.’s last remaining title contender after beating Wang 6-4 4-6 6-1 to end the second seed’s hopes of back-to-back ITF 1 titles.
Born in August 1989, less than 12 months after wheelchair tennis had its introduction to the Paralympic Games as an exhibition sport at the Seoul Games, Zhu fought through two three-set matches and avenged her quarter-final loss to Wang last year to reach her first singles final of 2025 at Seoul Olympic Park, before being beaten 6-4 6-3 by Van Koot in the final.
Van Koot’s singles campaign gathered piece quickly after dropping her opening set of the tournament to Israel’s Maayan Zikri. However, Van Koot had Zikri on her side of the net for the women’s doubles as the third seeds reached their first doubles final together and Zikri contested her first ever ITF 1 Series doubles final following a 1-6 6-1 (10-5) semi-final win over top seeds Namami Tanaka and Zhu.
But there was no stopping reigning Australian Open champions Li and Wang, the second seeds winning the final 7-5 6-2 to leave Korea Republic having won the Busan Open, Daegu Open and Seoul Korea Open titles in quick succession, having dropped just one set throughout to stretch their winning sequence to four tournaments in a row.
Schroder wraps up second Seoul Korea Open title
While De la Puente won the men’s singles final against an opponent he had last to in their previous meeting this season, Sam Schroder did exactly the same in the quad singles as he avenged his Cajun Classic semi-final loss to Ahmet Kaplan to wrap up his second Seoul Korea Open title and ensure that he also completed the best possible preparation for the upcoming Japan Open Super Series.
Schroder eased through his opening three matches in straight sets, including a 6-1 6-4 semi-final win over his doubles partner David Wagner, to put himself in line for his fifth singles title in Korea Republic since 2019.
Prior to his Cajun Classic loss to Kaplan last month, Schroder had not dropped a set to the Turkish player in five previous meetings. But while Kaplan made it three sets in a row in his favour in their final in Seoul, world No.2 Schroder turned the tide rather abruptly to seal a 6-7(5) 6-1 6-2 win that takes his collection of singles victories on Korean soil to two Daegu Open titles, two Seoul Korea Open titles and one Busan Open title.
Schroder now also owns a doubles title in Seoul after partnering Wagner to a resounding victory for the top seeds, the top seeds defeating Kaplan and Greg Slade, the second seeds, 6-0 7-5 to claim their second title as a partnership almost five years on from combining to win to Roland Garros in 2020.