Sebastian Korda (/ˈkɔːrdə/KORD-ə; born July 5, 2000) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 20 achieved on 24 June 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 57 reached on 6 May 2024. He has won one ATP singles and one doubles titles. He also won the junior title at the 2018 Australian Open, 20 years after his father Petr Korda won the Australian Open title.
Early life and background
Korda is the son of two Czech tennis players, former men's world number two Petr Korda and former top 30 women's player Regina Rajchrtová. His father was an Australian Open champion and French Open finalist in both singles and doubles. Sebastian's older sisters Jessica and Nelly are both LPGA golf professionals. Korda grew up playing competitive junior ice hockey from the age of 3, but decided to switch to tennis at the age of 9 after accompanying his father to the 2009 US Open.[1] At age 11, he won a golf tournament in Prague, in which his sister Nelly also competed.[2]
Professional career
2018: ATP debut
Korda made his ATP main draw debut at the New York Open. As a wildcard entry, he lost in the first round to Frances Tiafoe in three sets.[3]
2020: Major debut & fourth round at French Open
Korda made his Masters 1000 debut as a qualifier at the warm-up Western & Southern Open tournament prior to the US Open. Korda made his Grand Slam debut as a wildcard at the US Open where he was defeated by Denis Shapovalov.[4]
Korda made another breakthrough run at the Miami Masters, where he reached his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal. He beat 10th seed Fabio Fognini in three sets, 17th seed Aslan Karatsev in straight sets and scored his first top 10 win against Diego Schwartzman in three sets.[7] He lost to 4th seed Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals. He also reached a then career-high ranking of ATP world No. 62 on April 12, 2021.
In May, Korda lifted his first career ATP Tour singles title at the Emilia-Romagna Open, an ATP 250 tournament first played in 2021 due to the one-week delay of the 2021 French Open. He beat Marco Cecchinato in the final and did not drop a set throughout the tournament. He also became the first American male tennis player to win on European clay since Sam Querrey in 2010.[8] As a result of this successful run, he reached a new then career-high of No. 50 on May 31, 2021.
A week later, in his debut at Wimbledon, Korda reached the fourth round for the first time in his career after defeating in-form player and 15th seed Alex de Minaur, qualifier Antoine Hoang,[12] and 22nd seed Dan Evans.[13] However, he lost in the fourth round to 25th seed Karen Khachanov in five tight sets with the score in the fifth set being 10–8 after thirteen breaks of serve.[14] Despite the loss, he reached a new career-high ranking of No. 46 on July 12, 2021.
2022: Australian Open & three Masters third rounds, top 30
Korda started his 2022 season by playing at the Australian Open. In his debut, he upset world No. 12, Cameron Norrie, in the first round for his first victory at this event.[16] He went on to defeat Corentin Moutet in the second round in a tight five-set match with a super tiebreak in the fifth set to reach the third round for the first time at this Major.[17] In the third round, he lost to 19th seed and world No. 21, Pablo Carreño Busta.[18]
Seeded fifth at the Delray Beach Open, Korda reached the quarterfinals where he was defeated by top seed and eventual champion, Cameron Norrie.[19] In Acapulco, he was beaten in the first round by Dušan Lajović.[20] Representing the USA during the Davis Cup tie against Colombia, he beat Nicolás Mejía in his debut.[21] In the end, the USA won the tie over Colombia 4–0 to advance to the Davis Cup Finals.[22] In March, he competed at the BNP Paribas Open. He defeated qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round.[23] In the second round, he faced fourth seed, former world No. 1, and three-time champion, Rafael Nadal. Despite serving a breadstick in the second set and leading 5–2 in the final set, he lost to the eventual finalist in a third-set tiebreak.[24] At the Miami Open, he was knocked out of the tournament in the third round by Miomir Kecmanović.[25]
At the 2022 US Open, he reached the second round for the first time at this Major after defeating Facundo Bagnis before losing in a five sets, all-American clash with Tommy Paul.[30][31]
2023: Two ATP finals, first Major quarterfinal & Masters semifinal, top 25
Korda started his 2023 season at the Adelaide International 1. He reached his fifth ATP singles final by beating former world No. 1 Andy Murray, world No. 21 Roberto Bautista Agut, sixth seed and world No. 15, Jannik Sinner, and Yoshihito Nishioka via retirement.[34][35][36][37] In the final, he lost to top seed and world No. 5, Novak Djokovic, in three sets despite having a championship point.[38] Seeded 29th at the Australian Open, he stunned seventh seed, world No. 8, and two-time finalist, Daniil Medvedev, in the third round.[39][40] In the fourth round, he beat 10th seed and world No. 11, Hubert Hurkacz, to reach the quarterfinals of a Major for the first time in his career.[41] He retired during his quarterfinal match against 18th seed and world No. 20, Karen Khachanov, due to a right-wrist injury.[42] Due to his success at the Australian Open, his ranking improved from No. 31 to No. 26.
Korda's right-wrist injury kept him out of action for the next few months.[43][44] He returned to the tour during the week of April 24 at the Madrid Open. Seeded 22nd, he lost in the second round to French qualifier Hugo Grenier.[45][46] Seeded 22nd at the Italian Open, he was defeated in the second round by qualifier Roman Safiullin.[47] He also lost in the second round at the 2023 French Open to another qualifier, Austrian Sebastian Ofner.
At the beginning of the grass court season at the 2024 Libéma Open in 's-Hertogenbosch he reached his seventh final, becoming the first American in the championship match since 1996.[58] He lost to top seed Alex de Minaur in straight sets.[59][60]
At the 2024 Queen's Club Championships he defeated Karen Khachanov, and third seed Grigor Dimitrov in three sets, to reach back-to-back grass court quarterfinals.[61] Following reaching the semifinals with a win over qualifier Rinky Hijikata also in three sets, he reached the top 20 in the rankings. Korda and his father Petr become the first father/son duo to rank in the Top 20.[62]
Performance timeline
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.