Korea Open: Jelena Ostapenko thumps Veronica Cepede Royg in straight sets to enter semi-finals

Seoul: Top seed Jelena Ostapenko surged past Veronica Cepede Royg 6-3, 6-1 on Friday to reach the final four at the WTA Korea Open as she continues a storming run of matches. The 20-year-old French Open champion has not dropped a set since becoming the first Latvian to break into the WTA Top 10 when she advanced into 10th place earlier in September. [caption id=“attachment_3510487” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Jelena Ostapenko. Photo courtesy: Twitter @WTA[/caption] Cepede Royg battled hard to keep things close for much of the opening set, but Ostapenko was able to pull away, striking 23 winners and converting four of seven break point opportunities. “It was a tough match. She was playing very well, very aggressively. I just tried to play my game,” Ostapenko said after the match. Ostapenko now finds herself her two wins away from what would be the first non-Slam singles title of her career. She is now set to face surging Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum, who barreled her way into her first WTA semifinal since Osaka 2014 with a 6-3, 6-3 upset over No.4 seed Sorana Cirstea. Elsewhere, Dutch No 2 Richel Hogenkamp saw off 19-year-old Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon 6-3, 6-4 to move into her maiden WTA semifinal.