Kimberly Birrell won her first WTA singles title Sunday, beating fellow Australian Maya Joint 6–4, 6–2 in the Korea Open final in Seoul.
The second seed needed one hour and 23 minutes to complete the victory, recovering from an early service break before taking control of the match. It was the first tour-level singles final between two Australian women since 2017, when Samantha Stosur defeated Daria Gavrilova in Strasbourg.
Joint made the quicker start, breaking serve for a 2–0 lead. Birrell answered with four consecutive games and took the opening set in 45 minutes. She maintained the advantage in the second set and finished the match with a forehand winner.
The 28-year-old had twice reached a WTA final without lifting the trophy. She was runner-up in Osaka in 2024 and Chennai in 2025 before converting her third opportunity in South Korea.
Birrell’s route to Sunday’s final included two matches that went the distance. She recovered from losing the first set against Katie Volynets in the quarterfinals, winning 2–6, 6–2, 7–5, then defeated Anna Bondar 7–5, 2–6, 6–1 in the semifinals.
Those victories followed straight-set wins over Tamara Zidansek and Ma Ye Xin in her first two rounds. Her closing performance against Joint gave her a third straight-set victory of the tournament and removed the need for another deciding set.
Joint arrived with two tour titles already to her name, having won in Rabat and Eastbourne during the 2025 season. She had survived a demanding opening match in Seoul before advancing through the next three rounds without dropping a set.
Her quarterfinal opponent was Lanlana Tararudee, and her semifinal ended when Alina Korneeva retired in the second set. Joint could not sustain her early lead against Birrell in the championship match.
Tennis Australia reported that the title would take Birrell into the world’s top 50 for the first time. That would add a rankings milestone to a week in which she finally turned a place in a tour final into a championship.
Read the complete report
This page is an original Sporting Page summary. The reporting remains with Tennis Australia.
Read at Tennis Australia
