Tennis

Will Sebastian Korda’s big results come? The son of a famous father works with Agassi and still has room to rise

He is one of the greatest promises of American tennis. He comes from a sporting family and has been surrounded by sport from an early age. But he followed his parents’ advice and never rushed his career. In recent years, he has worked with the legendary Andre Agassi.

Published

1 year ago

22. 6. 2023

Martin Mrázek

Sebastian Korda refers to himself, with a bit of exaggeration, as the worst athlete in his family. His mother, Regina Rajchrtova, was a professional tennis player. She rose as high as 26th in the WTA rankings.

Sebastian’s father is Petr Korda. He won the 1998 Australian Open title. Peter Korda later missed out on the world number one ranking by just one match.

To make the family’s sporting achievements more than enough, Sebastian has two older sisters who are also golfers. Both Jessica and Nelly are, as family tradition dictates, successful in this sport as well.

A life of sport

Sport has accompanied Kord’s life since he was born. His parents encouraged all of their children to be very active in their free time, and in addition to tennis, Sebastian also played ice hockey, golf and taekwondo.

The now twenty-two-year-old tennis player is grateful to his parents for not rushing the start of his tennis career. Until he was fifteen, he competed only in tournaments in his home state of Florida.

“I’m grateful for that because it gave me friends outside the world of top sport, friends who have regular jobs,” he summarised the benefits of his slower journey to the ATP circuit.

His parents’ philosophy is that there is no rush. You don’t have to be world No. 1 at 20. Where do you move on at a time like this? You burn out early, that’s not the path the Kords wanted for their son.

He started appearing regularly on the circuit in 2018, when he celebrated his 18th birthday. Three years later, he had climbed into the elite 50 of the ATP rankings. This has seen him rise faster than his parents expected.

Working with Andre Agassi

In 2020, during the covid period, Korda began working with Andre Agassi. He has the function of the player’s mentor. And his work is bearing fruit. After all, Sebastian Korda himself evaluates the cooperation with the former world number one as one of the main reasons for his growth.

A year after the start of the cooperation, the first significant successes have already come. The final at Delray Beach, the quarter-finals at the Masters in Miami and then finally his first title at ATP tournaments. Specifically on clay in Palermo, where Korda Jr. did not lose a single set. But another title hasn’t come yet

Health problems have slowed down the growth momentum of the American tennis player in the last two years. Nevertheless, Korda is rising higher and higher. This year, two tournaments in Australia in January were enough for him to reach a new high in the rankings. That was 26th. He didn’t even finish the Australian Open when he was forced to withdraw from his quarter-final duel with Khachanov.

Present

Sebastian Korda’s last health problem was his wrist. It took a quarter of a year for treatment, and his return meant that he was able to return to clay court tournaments in Europe. At these, the Florida native did not record too many victories.

The burgeoning grass season could be more successful from his perspective. And, in fact, it already is. Korda secured his place in the Queen’s Club quarter-finals after wins against Evans and upstart compatriot Tiafoe.

And he certainly doesn’t want to say goodbye in his next match. His opponent will be the home player Cameron Norrie and the 22-year-old American has a positive record of 2:1, although he lost the last match.

The quarter-final match between Korda and Norrie will be scheduled for tomorrow. If Sebastian Korda succeeds, he will probably move up his ranking. And he still has room to move up. Still in line with the main ideas of his parents’ philosophy.

Source: ATP, CNN, Gameplan-A, TennisPortal