Seoul, South Korea, 18 September 2017 | tennis.com.au

Priscilla Hon has won her first ever tour-level match with a three-set win over fellow qualifier Karolina Muchova in the first round of the Korea Open in Seoul.

The 19-year-old Queenslander won 6-1 4-6 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with either No.8 seed Christina McHale or qualifier Arantxa Rus.

This is only the third WTA main draw of Hon’s career, after Hobart in 2015 and Brisbane in 2016.

She qualified for the main draw in Seoul with straight-sets wins over compatriot Olivia Tjandramulia and No.1 seed Tereza Martincova.

“I have to respect (Priscilla) for going and doing that,” said Nicole Pratt, head of Australian women’s tennis.

“She made the decision to go over there (to Korea) on her own, not with her assigned coach. She backed herself to go over there, on her own and achieve that result.

“I think that just sort of shows where she’s at, confidence wise. She feels good where her game’s at. She feels like she can match it at a WTA level.

“The fact is she’s starting to win these matches now, her ranking is going in the right direction. I certainly now see her on the upswing.

“She’s got a lot of weapons.”

Hon, currently at a career-high ranking of No.308, is enjoying a purple patch of form.

With her latest victory, she’s now won 11 of her last 13 matches and has slashed her ranking by almost 100 places in the last two months.

After reaching the quarterfinals of August’s $100,000 ITF tournament in Vancouver as a qualifier, Hon’s latest run in Seoul is expected to boost her ranking to No.263.