Cepelova advances to Korea quarters

Seoul - Jana Cepelova of Slovakia on Thursday advanced to the Korea Open quarter-finals after beating the top seed and defending champion Irina-Camelia Begu.

Cepelova, currently the world number 102, defeated the world 23 Begu, who had won two titles at the Korea Open, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in 125 minutes.

Cepelova previously made it into the semi-finals at the WTA Tokyo last week before being ousted by Christina McHale in the final.

The 23-year-old Slovak also beat Begu in the two ladies' first and previous match at the qualifiers to the 2013 US Open.

Begu was seeking redemption after suffering four consecutive first-round exits, including at the Rio Olympics and the US Open, since winning the title at the WTA Florianopolis in July.

Cepelova will next play Monica Niculescu from Romania.