Korda to play idol Nadal
American reaches round of 16 with win over Martinez
Paris Sebastian Korda was 9, heart set on a hockey career, when he went with his father, Petr, to the 2009 U.S. Open. By then, Petr — 1998 Australian Open champion, 1992 French Open finalist — had retired as a competitor and turned to coaching.
Sebastian watched Petr’s player, Radek Stepanek, face Novak Djokovic at night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“Totally packed. I thought it was the coolest thing. Went home, came back the next year, and said, ‘This is exactly what I want to do,’” Korda said. “The rest is history.”
“Sebi,” as he’s called, is now 20 and made a bit of history at Roland Garros on Friday, beating Spain’s Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 in a rain-interrupted match to become the youngest American man in the fourth round in Paris since Michael Chang was 19 in 1991.
The 213th-ranked Korda is the first qualifier to make it this far at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament since 2011. There’s this, too: He joined another 20-yearold, 239th-ranked French wild-card entry Hugo Gaston, as the first men from outside the Top 200 to make it to the French Open’s last 16 since 2002.
Gaston scored a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 upset of Stan Wawrinka.
On Sunday, Korda plays 12-time champion Rafael Nadal, while Gaston meets U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem.
When the prospect of facing Nadal was mentioned at Sebastian’s postmatch news conference — which took place while the King of Clay still was in the second set of his 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Stefano Travaglia — there was zero hesitation.
“I’m praying that he wins. I mean, he’s my biggest idol.” he said. “He’s one of the reasons I play tennis.”
The other men’s matchups: No. 6 Alexander Zverev against 19-year-old Jannik Sinner, and No. 12 Diego Schwartzman against Lorenzo Sonego.