Quick learner Korda claims another upset to march into Australian Open last eight
Melbourne, Australia - Giantkiller Sebastian Korda said that learning from his mistakes helped him surge into a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final on Sunday at the Australian Open.
The American 29th seed came through a rollercoaster 10point deciding tiebreak to beat 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 63, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10/7) on Rod Laver Arena.
He faces 18th-seeded Karen Khachanov next after the Russian crushed Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-0, 7-6 (7/4), incredibly winning the first 14 games before the
Japanese player woke up.
Korda, whose father Petr won the title in 1998, produced one of the performances of his career to upset two-time Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev in the third round.
After more heroics against Poland’s Hurkacz, Korda said his displays were down to learning from previous blockbuster matches he had lost, including to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
“I think I’m really good at just kind of moving forward, learning from my mistakes, what I’ve done in the past, then using them in matches like this,” he said.
“I’ve had a tough match with Rafa, serving for it a couple times. Match point with Djokovic. I think that really helped me, especially in the last match (in Melbourne) with Medvedev.
He had to dig deep to topple Hurkacz after a slow start.
The Pole took immediate charge on a hot day to break and race through the opening set.
But Korda came alive and hauled himself back into the contest, improving his first-serve percentage while cutting down on unforced errors. He worked a break to move 3-2 clear and held on to take the second set.
With Hurkacz on the back foot, the American kept the pressure on and raced into a 4-0 lead in set three, but lost his focus as the fourth set got under way.
The Pole won five games in a row to take the match to a decider, where they went toe-to-toe until the drama-filled tiebreak.
Defeat was a bitter pill for Hurkacz, who was aiming to become the first Polish man to reach the Melbourne Park quarter-finals.