Kwon Soon-woo eliminated in 2nd round at Korea Open

South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo was knocked out of the second round at the lone ATP tournament on home soil on Thursday, losing to Jenson Brooksby of the United States in straight sets.

The eight-seed Brooksby finished off Kwon 6-3, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the Eugene Korea Open at Olympic Park Tennis Center in Seoul.

Kwon, the highest-ranked South Korean player at No. 121, has not gone past the second round at any ATP event since winning his maiden title in Kazakhstan last September.

With Brooksby serving to open the match, Kwon battled the 46th-ranked American shot for shot, as the two went to deuce six times. Brooksby grabbed the game after Kwon’s backhand return went wide, and the grueling early victory set the tone for the rest of the match.

Brooksby got his first break for a 3-1 lead and rode his dominant serves to open up a 4-1 lead.

Kwon stayed alive by winning two of the next three games, but Brooksby once again let his serve take care of business to win the first set 6-3.

Down 3-1 in the second set, Kwon held his serve and then rallied from a 30-0 deficit to break Brooksby for a 3-3 tie.

Brooksby responded by breaking Kwon’s serve to take a 4-3 lead, putting a backhand volley right down the line for the emphatic final point. Brooksby won the next game without dropping a point, powered by two aces.

Kwon held his serve to stay alive at 5-4, but Brooksby proved too much for Kwon to handle on this day, as the American held his serve and closed out the match with a backhand winner.

Kwon had been the last South Korean remaining in the singles at the Korea Open, the first ATP tournament in the country since 1996.

Kwon is still alive in the doubles, along with partner Chung Hyeon. They will play their quarterfinals match Friday.

Brooksby will face No. 2 seed Cameron Norrie in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Earlier Thursday, Norrie cruised past Kaichi Uchida of Japan 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals.

Norrie, world No. 8 from Britain, got his first break to take a 3-2 lead in the first set, and then won the next three games thanks to a combination of strong serves and superb groundstrokes.

It was much the same story in the second set, as Norrie looked to be in complete control by winning the final three games to finish the match in just over an hour.

Also on Thursday, No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz withdrew hours before his second round match due to an unspecified illness. The world No. 12 from the United States was replaced by lucky loser Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan.