By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, October 12, 2023

The best parental presents aren't always wrapped in a box.

The son of tennis pros, Sebastian Korda cites the greatest gift his parents gave him: the power of self-belief.   

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So when Korda squandered five match points in the decisive tiebreaker to Ben Shelton in today's all-American clash, he didn't press the panic button.

The 23-year-old Korda tuned into the parental muse staying cool, trusting his shots and finishing with a high forehand volley edging Shelton 6-7(10), 6-2, 7-6(6) to reach his maiden Masters 1000 semifinal in Shanghai.

Though neither Sebastian Korda's dad, former world No. 2 Petr Korda, nor his mom, world No. 26 Regina Korda, were in the stands in Shanghai today, the son felt their presence at crunch time.

"That's probably one of the biggest things of having a father who played tennis was to kind of understand certain moments," Sebastian Korda told the media in Shanghai. "I think in those certain moments you got to stay really calm. You can have such a big lead like that and you could just completely panic or get super down on yourself and just get lost.

"I think that's one of the biggest things both my parents really taught me is to, you know, one, is to always believe in yourself, no matter the situation, to just really go after it.

"Whatever happens, happens, you just got to believe in yourself, go after it, and just enjoy the moment."



A gritty win propels Korda into his third straight semifinal and a Shanghai semifinal showdown with Hubert Hurkacz.

Last January, Sebastian Korda upset Daniil Medvedev and Hurkacz in succession advancing to his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open.

Twenty-five years after his father, Petr Korda, defeated Marcelo Rios to capture the 1998 Australian Open title, 2018 AO boys' champion Sebastian Korda was flying high in the nation where his sisters, golfers Nelly Korda and Jessica Korda, have both won LPGA majors.



"I'm definitely the worst athlete in my family," Korda joked during his AO run.

One win from a Masters final, Sebastian Korda shared his ultimate tennis dream: defeat dad's record and win two Grand Slam titles.

"Obviously, I would love to be better than my dad," Sebastian Korda said. "My ultimate goal in tennis is to win two Grand Slams, one more than my dad.

"That's just, you know, little things like that, but I don't think there's any pressure. I just really love playing tennis, and just really having a lot of fun right now."

Photo credit: Daniel Pockett/Getty