After Quarantine, Sebastian Korda Wins in Australia
Korda, ranked 43rd, is part of a tightly packed peloton that is leading American men’s tennis as it chases the sport’s best. Though no American man is ranked inside the ATP top 20, there are five Americans ahead of Korda, led by 22nd-ranked Taylor Fritz.
“I think we’re all pushing each other,” Korda said. “There’s always an American pushing, going further in tournaments, so it’s inspiring for all of us — it’s like a little competition between us.”
The ones in the front of the pack see Korda gaining fast.
“So clean,” 41st-ranked Tommy Paul, who won in straight sets on Monday over Mikhail Kukushkin, said of Korda. “Fun to watch.”
No. 29 Reilly Opelka, an outspoken cheerleader for his fellow American players, said the 6-foot-5 Korda “has definitely got the body to be great.”
“He’s got the Tsitsipas-Medvedev-Zverev build; that’s kind of the new, modern thing,” Opelka said, citing three top-five players. “He moves well. Great backhand.”
Opelka said he was especially impressed by Korda’s biggest results having come at Grand Slam events, including a run to the fourth round of the 2020 French Open and last year’s Wimbledon. “You can fake it for a set and a half if a guy is off,” Opelka said. “You can’t hide it for five sets.”
Though Opelka said he was most “intrigued” by the unconventional game of the 21-year-old Californian Jenson Brooksby, he called Korda “super legit,” and the “safest call of the young guys” to lead the American pack to resurgent heights.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/17/sports/tennis/sebastian-korda-australian-open.html