Opinion
Sebastian Korda is locked in a fifth-set tie-breaker with gritty Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the second round of the Australian Open.
Serving at 6-5, they get into a long exchange, Korda pushing Moutet back further and deeper into the court before finally coming into the net.
He hits a couple of overheads to the Moutet forehand but fails to put them away. Moutet sends up one last final prayer, a centimetre-perfect lob that bounces right onto the baseline. Korda retreats but stays calm. He runs around the lob, flicking the ball with his wrists over his right shoulder.
The ball lands on the service box and the cross-court rally resumes. Korda takes hand of the racquet and hits a slice drop shot, which Moutet scrambles to get. He chips it down the line deep to the Korda backhand. Korda causally runs around it and strokes a backhand winner down the line, which Moutet literally throws his racquet at.
Moutet’s arms go to the heavens, a look of despair and exasperation on his face, as he gingerly walks over to retrieve his Wilson Pro Staff. Korda walks to his chair with his head down at 7-5, three points away from advancing to the Australian Open third round, which he eventually does.
There’s so much being written and said about Korda, and for good reason.
“He’s going to be an incredible player,” John McEnroe told ESPN. “He hits the ball just beautiful. He has great touch and he already moves really well for a big skinny kid who still isn’t very strong.”
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
That was when Korda made his ATP debut at the age of 18 at the New York Open. But Korda’s game has grown and continues to grow leaps and bounds since his ATP debut.
At 196 centimetres and 79 kilograms, Korda has the perfect body for today’s game. Similar to Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, Korda has long leavers that allow him to generate easy power, but he also has extremely good athleticism, allowing him to move unfairly well around the court given his height.
Defence and movement have been a lynchpin for many Americans on tour, but Korda is an exception to that. His defence is extremely impressive and was on full display against Moutet, who often buried his forehand into Korda’s backhand corner. Korda was still able to defend, often slicing or stretching to retrieve balls deep on his backhand side. And he defended extremely well the entire match, which gave him the platform to use his forehand and backhand to hit aggressive shots and get to the net, which he did a whopping 94 times, winning 66 of those trips.
Along with his defence, Korda showed he has the transition game to take time away from his opponent and shorten points. A lot of his defence and net play have to do with his slender but strong frame, which not only gives him easy power but allows him to move smoothly and efficiently across and into the court.
His first serve is still a work in progress when it comes to speed and power, but he has shown the ability to hit his spots for free points in pressure situations. His second serve is one of his finest shots, using all of his height and length to generate spin, angle and bounce.
His groundstrokes are a joy to watch. During rallies he will often randomly inject pace and willingly flatten his forehand and backhand. His two-handed backhand is a thing of beauty. With it he can control rallies, and it’s not a hindrance going cross-court against a left-hander’s forehand.
His forehand is versatile. He can use it to play with a lot of spin and margin, pushing the opponent back into the court, or flatten it out when presented with the opportunity. He sometimes struggles with balls hit with a lot of pace to his forehand side, but he has shown the ability to shorten the backswing in recent times to help with that.
There are no holes or weaknesses in his groundstrokes. He strokes it extremely cleanly with impressive balance. To think he will only get better and stronger is a scary proposition.
But the most impressive aspect of Korda’s game is his temperament. He has a Roger Federer-style calm, cool and collected temperament about him. He rarely gets flustered. You will not see him smash his racquet, have an outburst at the crowd or umpire or even show much emotion when he loses a tough point. It is the strongest and most impressive part of his game and is an anomaly for young players.
Korda has all the tools. He has the right support staff around him, including his dad and former Australian Open winner Petr Korda, who knows a thing or two about the ups and downs of tennis. He has also worked with eight-time grand slam champion Andre Agassi, who also knows a thing or two about managing expectations and pressure.
There is good reason so much has been made of Sebastian Korda: there is so much to like about him. Of all the American tennis prospects who have come through the system, he is the most complete. And his resume at the age of 21 is already extremely impressive: fourth round at the French Open in 2020; fourth round in Wimbledon, where he beat two seeded players in Dan Evans and Alex de Minaur; and nine wins against players who were previously in the top ten. He also has an ATP 250 title from Parma in 2021.
American men’s tennis has been bleak for a while. John Isner has consistently topped the rankings, but his grand slam record is poor and he has never looked likely to bring America its first grand slam title since 2003. But a new generation of players has given American tennis fans reason for optimism.
But while Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul inspire optimism, with Korda there is tangible excitement. Many Americans believe he is the one to finally bring American tennis back where it belongs: on top of the world.
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