By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday March 15, 2020
20-year-old Sebastian Korda eased past former Grand Slam champion Marin Cilic to reach the second round at Acapulco.
Photo Source: Getty Images
Sebastian Korda continues to prove himself on the sports’ biggest stages. The 20-year-old American toppled former Grand Slam champion Marin Cilic on his Acapulco debut on Monday night, claiming 11 of the final 13 games to break open a seesaw contest, 7-5, 6-2.
It wasn’t the prettiest tennis from the American, especially in the first set where he faced a steady stream of break points before finally yielding and falling behind 4-2. But Korda was poised and resilient, and he methodically went about his business, dialing up his serves and groundstrokes to take the play to Cilic.
Korda saved 10 of 11 break points in that opening set, and when it was his turn to be the aggressor he did so confidently and reeled off the final five games to claim the opening set.
The second set was strange, and it featured five consecutive breaks of serve at the onset, but again it was Korda who handled the vicissitudes better. He restored order and swept through the final four games to wrap up his victory with zero drama.
It was Korda’s first 500-level victory and just his ninth ATP victory overall. The American, whose father is former World No.2 Petr Korda, improves to 3-4 lifetime against the ATP’s Top 50.
Korda, who began a working mentorship with Andre Agassi this winter in Las Vegas, has been on the uptick since last summer. After playing his first Grand Slam main draw match at the US Open last summer, he reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros on his debut before falling to Rafael Nadal in straight sets.
Korda has won two challenger titles in the last five months, and also reached his first ATP final at Delray Beach in January. He is 26-7 across all levels since the sport restarted last summer.
Korda will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in second-round action at Acapulco. The Canadian topped Tennys Sandgren in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(8), in a victory that was far more complicated than it had to be. Auger-Aliassime failed to serve out the match when he had the chance, then needed six match points to finally close out Sandgren.
Alexander Zverev, seeded second, was also a winner on Monday. The German took out 17-year-old Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, 6-3, 6-1.