Korda advances, to face Nadal next
PARIS — Sebastian Korda was 9, heart setonahockey 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.
“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 Americanmanin the fourth round in Paris since Michael Chang was 19 in 1991.
The 213th-ranked Sebastian is the first qualifier to make it this far at the claycourt Grand Slam tournament since 2011.
There’s this, too: He joined another 20-year-old, 239th-ranked French wildcard entry Hugo Gaston, as the first men from outside the Top 200 to make it to the French Open’s last 16 since 2002.
“Amazing,” said Gaston, who sat in his sideline seat and cried into a towel while fans chanted his first name after a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 upset of StanWawrinka, whose three Grand Slam trophies include the 2015 title at Roland Garros.
Sunday, Korda plays 12time champion Rafael Nadal, while Gaston meets U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem.
The other men’s matchups on the draw’s bottom half: No. 6 Alexander Zverev, the runner-up to Thiem in New York, against 19year-old Jannik Sinner, and No. 12 Diego Schwartzman against Lorenzo Sonego.
Women’s fourth-rounders set up by Friday’s results areNo. 1SimonaHalep vs. 19-year-old Iga Swiatek, No. 3 Elina Svitolina vs. Caroline Garcia, No. 5 Kiki Bertens vs. Martina Trevisan, andNadia Podorska vs. Barbora Krejcikova.
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’s one of the reasons I play tennis,” Sebastian said.