Korda played the match of his life, knocked out Medvedev and dreams of imitating his father in Australia

The American Sebastian Rope31st in the ATP rankings, he played the match of his life in the round of 32 of the Australian Open and defeated the Russian Daniel Medvedev (8th), finalist in the last two editions, for 7-6(7), 6-3 and 7-6(4).

It is the first time that the player of 22 years old He qualified for the round of 16 in Melbourne, as well as equaling his best result at a Grand Slam. In the next round he will face the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (10).

Furthermore, he will try to emulate what his father, Petr Korda, achieved by winning this trophy against Chilean Marcelo Ríos two years before Sebastian was born. He has already succeeded, in part, by winning in the junior category in 2018, but now he wants to go a little further.

“My dad always loved coming here and playing. It’s a special place for us. We have to get a residency here, buy a house or something,” he joked. “We’ve done very well. I hope I can do something better than the youth and do it in the seniors,” she added.

But they are not the only victories in Australia for this family of athletes. Sebastian’s sisters Jessica and Nelly have also achieved prestigious Open golf victories here.

“My sister won the Australian Open in golf and my parents had very good rankings in tennis. I am the worst athlete in my family at the moment”, commented the winner with laughter during the interview that took place on the rink of the Rod Laver Arena at the end of a fight that lasted up to three hours.

Sebastian is the son of Czechs Petr Korda, winner of this tournament in 1998 and who reached number 2 in the world, and Regina Rajchrtovawhich was 25 on the WTA rankings.

“My parents help me a lot. Now I have Radek Stepanek and also Andre Agassi as advisorwhich helps me a lot,” he explained when asked by his coaches.

The American confirmed the good sensations experienced both in Adelaide, when he fell against the Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final, and from his first in Melbourne, where he conceded just one set in three matches played.

That hasn’t changed in front of the constancy of a Medvedev only made 26 unforced errors, and made his game-winning 50 shots prevail. The Rod Laver Stadium crowd erupted with joy after reaching match point, a risky winning forehand after a long rally from the baseline.

The Muscovite, who is not having good times, he will drop to twelfth position in the ATP list after losing 1110 points remaining four rounds from the final played in the last edition against the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

Korda’s next rival will be the Pole Hubert Hurkacza tennis player with a great serve who takes less risk from the baseline.

The Pole prevailed in the only meeting he had in the 2021 final in Delray Beach with a comfortable double 6-3.

With information from EFE