Poland’s Iga Swiatek celebrates with her trophy after defeating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini at the French Open in Paris on June 8. Reuters-Yonhap

World number one Iga Swiatek will take part in the only annual WTA tournament in Korea next month, event organizers said on Sunday.

Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, will headline the Korea Open, which begins with qualifying matches at the Olympic Park Tennis Center in Seoul on September 14, with the final taking place on September 22.

The 23-year-old Polish star will be the first current No. 1 player to appear at the Korea Open since the tournament was first held in 2004.

Swiatek is joined by two other top-10 players: defending champion Jessica Pegula (No. 6) and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina (No. 4).

Former world number one and 2014 Korea Open winner Karolina Pliskova and 2019 Korea Open winner Karolina Muchova will return to Seoul.

Other stars include Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion who reached the semifinals of the 2022 Korea Open, and Daria Kasatkina, the semifinalist of the 2022 French Open.

The Korea Open was upgraded from WTA 250, the lowest tournament division, to WTA 500, meaning the winner will receive 500 world ranking points. The prize money was increased from about $260,000 to $1 million. (Yonhap)