Kordas eyeing Tokyo after US Women’s Open
SAN FRANCISCO – Jessica Korda was packing to come to San Francisco when she watched young brother Sebastian win his first ATP tennis title at the Emilia-Romagna Open last Saturday. As she pulled out of the driveway in South Florida, she realized she’d forgotten a few things, including her contact lenses.
The Kordas don’t want to look too far into the future this week at the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club. Jessica and Nelly were grouped together for the first time at a major; their parents were thrilled not to have to walk 36 holes a day. Typically, the sisters are put in separate waves.
It was a major week for all of the Korda siblings as Sebastian, now ranked 50th in the world, competed in the French Open. It’s entirely possible all three Kordas could be at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
“It would be really cool,” said Jessica. “I think that’s something that’s so far in the future that I’m not necessarily looking at it just yet. I know that’s probably not the right thing to say, but we still have a lot of majors left, and girls are playing well, and I’m kind of teetering. If it happens, great. If not, honestly, I’ll be OK.”
On Thursday, Jessica shot 1-over-par 72 and Nelly 7-over 78.
Jessica, 28, is currently No. 11 in the Rolex Rankings while younger sister Nelly is fourth. The maximum number of women who can represent the U.S. in Toyko is four, and all four of those players must be ranked 15th or higher. Jessica said she tries not to look at the rankings too much.
“I know that it’s talked about just because it would be kind of like a big thing,” she said, “but, again, there’s so much golf between now and then. I think we have like this major, KPMG, and Evian. There’s just a lot of golf.”
Actually, the cutoff for qualifying is June 28, immediately after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club (before the Evian). Four tournaments remain, including the U.S. Women’s Open.
The women’s competition for the 2021 Olympics will take place Aug. 4-7 at Kasumigaseki Country Club. Danielle Kang (No. 6), Lexi Thompson (No. 9) and Ally Ewing (No. 15) join the Kordas in what’s shaping up to be a tight race to Tokyo.
While Petr Korda is the only member of the family with a major, having won the 1998 Australian Open, wife Regina is the only member of the family who has competed in the Olympics.
Regina represented Czechoslovakia in tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and reached a careerhigh world ranking of 26 before injury took her out of the game.
Sebastian Korda, 20, became the first American man in 11 years to lift a trophy on European clay last week. In men’s tennis, players must be ranked inside the top 56 to qualify and a total of four Americans can compete.
All three Korda siblings now have a title in 2021, and their collective fame rises with each individual success.