Here Comes Sebi Korda!

[scoop]

Sebastian Korda had a breakthrough week this week in the $25,000 Houston Futures event.

The 17-year-old son of 1998 Australian Open champion Petr Korda, entered the Houston Futures ranked 1357 and coming off a recent win against Stanford star Tom Fawcett, ranked 900, in the first round of Stockton Challenger qualies, 7-5 in the third. (Fawcett had beaten ATP world no. 92 Ruben Bemelmans at the recent Tiburon Challenger.)

In Houston, Korda drew Japanese Kaichi Uchida, ranked 373 in the first round. Korda prevailed in a dramatic battle 7-6 (13-11), 7-6 (7-4). In the next round, Korda defeated an Argentine named Alan Kohen, ranked 1317, 64 76.

Into the quarters, Korda beat unranked Samuel Shropshire 63 75.

In the semis, Korda met ATP 314 Lucas Miedler of Austria. Miedler won the 2014 Australian Open boys doubles with Brad Mousley. Korda beat 21-year-old Miedler 61 62 though Miedler may have been spent from an exhausting draw including a marathon quarterfinal win vs Alexei Popyrin 76 in the third.

Into the finals, Korda played NCAA champion Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, who straight setted Christopher Eubanks and Austin Krajicek in the quarter and semi, respectively. Kwiatkowski, ranked 703, defeated Korda 62 62.

But it’s a positive result and valuable learning experience for young Korda, who stands six-foot four inches tall and won the USTA national clay courts last year. The Bradenton, FL based American is on track to have to make a major decision in the next few months – turn pro or play college tennis.

Earlier this year at Sarasota Open Challenger, Korda had a wildcard and lost first round to former top 100 player Blaz Rola 61 62.

But a lot can change in a few months and a result like this in Houston by Korda brings to mind the Jim Courier story. Courier was set to attend Southern Methodist University but he decided to play a Satellite in South America and won the title. And of course, the rest is history. Courier never played college tennis at SMU. And a few years later he won Roland Garros.

We will be keeping an eye on young Sebi Korda here at tennis-prose so stay tuned. The Biofile I did with Sebi Korda will be posted later this month.



PHOTO BY MARIAN LAUDIN

 

[Front242]

Let's hope he's not a steroid user like his dad.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Tomic can always ask for a wildcard. Tennis Australia would possibly oblige that request

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Dudi Sela clobbers Coric is a surprise, Coric is or was highly touted but he puts up these mediocre results over and over again. Sela finds a way. This guy is a little dynamo, traveling all over to hustle Challengers to keep his ranking close to 50-60 range to get in main draws like this week. Tsitsipas keeps winning and now he gets Karlovic again. Caspar Ruud is really struggling now with poor hard court results, he's good on clay but he can't win on hard courts. Tiafoe Escobedo doing very well now. Tommy Paul has disappeared since the US open.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Well I guess we won't be talking about Kerber until January She should take over a month off from touching a racquet and go travel or relax and recharge her batteries. You know, she could be like a lot of those Russian players, they make a lot of money and they just don't care anymore. Which is not bad at all. No one can ever take away what she has achieved in tennis.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Hartt; That is great news about Rebecca Marino, who I did a Biofile when she was about 19 or 20. She was a top 100 talent and probably a top 50 talent. Hope she fulfills her potential.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Thanks Hartt. She was a superb interview with lots of colorful answers and good stories. She belongs in the top 100 for sure. I think she was really hurt by social media loons getting on her and making threats after tough losses and making gambling allegations. Tennis is hard enough for any pro struggling to make a living and to compound it with social media lunatics attacking her was probably way too much to deal with. Let's hope she is stronger now and her best is yet to come.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

I heard a rumor Kerber sneezed this afternoon. Let's discuss this and the implication it could have on her 2018 season. I think it's a good thing if she can find a way to turn it into a positive

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Catherine; I have very good hearing, even heard Sharapova farted on the second to last point of the final in China

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Catherine; Kyrgios loves tennis when he wants to play we see how much he loves it in his wins against Djokovic and Nadal. When he's the underdog. But when he's the favorite who is expected to win he plays with a lackadaisical stupid mindset. Kyrgios is a Jekyll-Hyde player. These smaller events vs no names he just doesn't care. And he's free to play that way or any way he wants, fans and media can rip him to shreds. He can do it any way he wants.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Thomas, I see a lot of parallels with Rios and Nick. Both love to play but they don't want all that extra responsibility to do all the media and be the face of the sport. He prefers to be the underdog. Walk around the grounds of a tournament as a regular guy, watch a match on court 15, Fed and Rafa just can't do that. Nick wants to enjoy tennis on his terms not be a slave having to do and say all the right things. He's an artist who wants to do it HIS WAY. Not be a puppet.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Catherine; But Nick is a big enough star now that he can dog it and hot dog it when he wants. He's "box office." He's an enigma. The ATP Tour needs rebels and characters. Nick knows this and plays it to the hilt.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

He will always be a star because of his exciting explosive style and his potential to always be a threat to beat anyone on any given day. He can blast Fed Djok and Nadal off the court. And he's a showman like Monfils. Not sure I buy any of his injuries given his propensity to need excuses to support his tanks and poor efforts. Not sure of all of his supposed injuries are not fabrications to excuse his bad losses. "Fabrications" as Wally Masur said players will create to protect their egos.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Guga was overtrained as a kid I was told. Trained and played too much and the hip crashed. Guga was an extremely hard worker and totally dedicated. Kyrgios may have been more dedicated when he was younger. I don't know, he sure seems to be playing well in certain matches with that supposedly faulty hip. Beating Nadal like he did in Cincy with that supposedly faulty hip doesn't fully compute in my opinion. It could be a real injury problem and that would be very sad news for tennis and Nick's future. Or it could be a fabrication to protect his ego and to have a convenient excuse handy for bad losses. One thing is for sure, tennis needs Nick on the scene. He's an electrifying player and one that intrigues fans and excites and attracts the kids who love Nick.

 

[Front242]

Looking at how Kyrgios walks with poor posture all hunched like Gasquet, I see no reason to doubt Kyrgios has hip problens. He has a very gangly, awkward and frail look about the way he walks.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

I see nothing wrong with Nick's posture, just his unique body type. That same body whooped Fed Rafa and Djokovic twice this year.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Bouchard is shaping up to be the second coming of Kournikova. And that is not such a bad thing. Kournikova was fantastic for tennis. She had an excellent career which is largely forgotten now because she didn't win any singles titles or singles majors.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Catherine; I think a LOT of players would be very happy to have had or have a career similar to Kournikova's. What's so bad about being considered a Kournikova sequel?

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

If Kournikova had continued playing with better health who can say she would not have overcome her serve issues and put it all together and become a dominant player post age 25 like Kerber? Who can say with any certainty that Kournikova was destined to be an early flash in the pan who fizzled out early? We may never have seen the very best of Kournikova. Were it no for the injuries she may have won about five majors in singles. No one knows for sure. Look how long it took Wawrinka to find himself. Kournikova never really found herself as a player.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Well, Dimitrov is making a pretty good career as a spin off to you know who Kournikova has a lot to be proud of for her tennis accomplishments. Most super models are content having a career focused on their looks.