The American tennis player Sebastian Korda had the greatest Grand Slam tournament success of his career at the Australian Open on Sunday night (January 22nd, 2023) – and is thus following in his father’s footsteps.
The 22-year-old made it through to the quarter-finals with a hard-fought 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) win over Hubert Hurkacz from Poland.
“Scream A Little”
“I’m happy how I fought my way through. I’ll scream a little in the shower”said the 31st in the world rankings, who had shone even more playfully in the previous round in the three-set win against the Russian Daniil Medvedev.
His father Petr Korda won the Australian Open in 1998 for the Czech Republic. Sebastian Korda won the junior title five years ago. Korda, seeded at number 29, meets the Russian Karen Khachanov in the round of the top eight players, who previously had significantly less trouble in the 6-0, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) win against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka .
Out for Auger Aliassime
The highly rated Felix Auger-Aliassime was surprisingly eliminated. The Canadian lost to Jiri Lehecka 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 7 (2: 7), 6: 7 (3: 7), for the Czech it is the first quarter-final participation in a Grand Slam. Auger-Aliassime, on the other hand, has to wait for his first major triumph.
Out for top favorite Iga Swiatek
The top favorite is out for women: Iga Swiatek surprisingly failed in the round of 16 at the Australian Open. The number one in the world lost to Wimbledon champion Jelina Rybakina from Kazakhstan 4: 6, 4: 6 and had to give up hope of her fourth Grand Slam triumph.
She didn’t quite make it: Iga Swiatek didn’t make it to the quarterfinals.
“I have to work on my mindset for sure”said Swiatek after the disappointing defeat: “I felt the pressure and didn’t want to lose instead of wanting to win.”
Rybakina praises her ‘important moments’
“I have a lot of respect for Iga. Today I served very well and played very well in the important moments”said Rybakina. She now meets Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, Paris winner of 2017, who defeated US hopeful Coco Gauff 7: 5, 6: 3.
Swiatek won the French Open for the second time last year and then also triumphed in New York. For Rybakina, reaching the quarter-finals is already the best result of her career in Australia. Born in Russia, she defeated Tunisian Ons Jabeur in the final at Wimbledon, winning the first Grand Slam title for the nation she has been serving for since 2018.
