Sebastian Korda trained for the 2021 season trading shots with a pair of Hall of Fame hitting partners—Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf—in Las Vegas last December.
Agassi has served as a mentor and coaching consultant to Korda, whose coaching team features his father, former Australian Open champion Petr Korda, Petr Korda, Dean Goldfine and Theodor Devoty.
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Former world No. 1 Agassi shares his experience and advice and sometimes scouts opponents for Korda.
The 21-year-old American revealed Agassi frequently emphasizes an important—and sometimes forgotten—aspect of competing on the pro circuit: embrace and enjoy the experience.
"[Andre] always tells me whenever I play like a big match or something to always enjoy it, and whenever I'm playing a tournament for the first time to really enjoy it," Korda told the media in Cincinnati. "I think I have done a really good job of that. I have a lot of great people around me, so I'm always having fun, whether it be with my physio or my coach or my dad is with me here this week, or my girlfriend."
To that end, Korda strives to break the cycle of monotony that can come from the hotel-practice court-match play path players often observe.
"I think I'm doing a pretty good job with just enjoying basically, not being too, like, locked down in my room and just looking at the wall or watching TV," Korda said. "Yeah, I think that's probably the best thing for me. Also, all these tournaments are my first time, so it's always exciting to come to them.
"I know Naomi [Osaka], she's won a lot of these tournaments and she's been to a lot of these tournaments, so when you do do something for a long time, maybe it does start to wear on you, but always for me there is a lot of excitement, so I can't say that I have had any problems recent."
The 45th-ranked American meets Laslo Djere in his Cincinnati opener with the winner taking on second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas.
"I love playing in America. I mean, the courts really suit me here," Korda said. "They are pretty quick, so I think it's good for me. I have had to pull out of Toronto because I had a little back issue, but I think we figured all that out and everything is good to go."
Photo credit: Sebastian Korda Instagram