Sebastian Korda’s decision to skip the Paris Olympics made sense because of his injury-prone nature. Transitioning from grass to clay to hard would be asking a bit too much from his body. Korda was solid during much of the tournament, playing some flawless tennis. His only blip came in the round of 16 match against Thanasi Kokkinakis where he saved two match points, both in miraculous fashion. He defeated Flavio Cobolli in the final to win the Washington title. It’s the biggest title of Korda’s career and his second at the tour level.
The majority of Cobolli’s matches were three-setters, and it was hot outside in Washington, D.C. He will be proud of his first final run and I am sure we will see a lot more of him in the future. Korda becomes the first American to win the Citi Open since Andy Roddick in 2007.
Korda Ends Losing Streak in Final
Sebastian Korda had lost six consecutive finals before this win. He has had many tough losses in finals and several tough years on tour since his first title in 2021. The elation and relief on his face after winning said it all. He joins his father, Petr Korda on the Washington Open list of champions. It is the first time in ATP tour history that a father and son have won the same tournament. Petr Korda did it in 1992.
Korda has been sneakily consistent this year, just unable to beat the Top 10 players in big tournaments. His serve was exceptional this week. He was hitting every angle and used the body serves at times to keep the opponent off guard. His point construction was also brilliant as he showed his variety. Korda sliced and diced, returned deep and aggressively and made smart approach shots that put him in a favorable position to close out the point. Very rarely did he leave anything hanging in or near the service box. He was consistently painting the lines, particularly against Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals.
A great quality about Korda is he seems to rarely, if ever, beat himself. He is beatable if the opponent puts him consistently on defense, he can crumble due to his movement. But he rarely loses due to unforced errors, maybe due to his solid technique on all his strokes. Aesthetically, his game looks great when it’s firing on all cylinders. Mentally he has gotten better and will hope to keep up the good form for the rest of the hard court season with the confidence he has gained here. The American is up to No.18 in the rankings and his goal should be to push for the Top 10.
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
