SEOUL, South Korea - Francesca Schiavone and Jang Su Jeong pulled off upsets as the first round came to a close at the KDB Korea Open, an International tournament with a $500,000 prize purse.

Watch Seoul & Guangzhou this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Schiavone recorded the first surprise of the day, rallying past No.7 seed Andrea Petkovic, 61 26 64. It wasn't that huge a surprise, though - Schiavone is ranked just five spots below Petkovic, No.56 to No.51, and both are former Top 10 players, the Italian going as high as No.4 and the German No.9.

"We played at a high level today," Schiavone said. "I played very well in the first set, but then Petkovic took her level up in the second set. The third set was a big fight but at the end, at 4-all, I played my best tennis of the match. I was just fighting a lot and I'm happy to finish the match as the winner."

One of the things Schiavone was asked about in her post-match press conference was the famous hug - during her first round match against Serena Williams at the US Open, she walked to the back of the court and hugged one of the ballboys. It was one of the most memorable moments of the tournament.

"When you're out there playing against Serena and you're down 60 30, it's tough, and sometimes you feel a little bit alone," the Italian explained. "Sometimes in moments like that, you just need a hug!"

She was asked if she'll hug a ballboy in Seoul this week. "If I find the right person!" she joked.

Jang - an 18-year-old South Korean wildcard, ranked No.540 in the world and playing in her very first WTA main draw - stunned No.4 seed Klara Zakopalova in straight sets in just 64 minutes, 63 61.

"I felt very intimidated playing my first WTA main draw match against such a good player, but she was making a lot of mistakes, so I took advantage of it," Jang said. "I'm really grateful to have this opportunity to represent my country at my home tournament and I'm really excited about this win."

Elsewhere, No.2 seed Maria Kirilenko beat Taiwanese qualifier Chan Chin-Wei, 63 63, and No.8 seed Annika Beck survived a nail-biter against Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki, 36 76(5) 64. Ozaki had all kinds of leads in the second set - she was up a break three times - but Beck battled back to win.

Other winners were Irina-Camelia Begu, Kimiko Date-Krumm and Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur.

Date-Krumm rallied from a set and a break down to beat Heather Watson in another thriller, 36 63 64.

"Heather is a very, very tough player, and I knew it was going to be a tough match," Date-Krumm said. "Last year she won the HP Open in Osaka - this year I can see she has lost confidence a little bit, because she was out for a while, but she's still a good player and has a lot of potential, of course.

"I just tried to keep fighting even when I was losing. I never gave up. That's how I won today."

And for a player who has been playing for as long as she has, Date-Krumm still had room for another first - with a 5-4 lead in the third set, the Japanese started one point with an underhand serve.

"It was the first time in my life - for almost 43 years I've never done that!" she joked.