By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday August 4, 2024
Sebastian Korda won his biggest career title and joined his father Petr on the Citi Open honor roll on Sunday in DC.
Photo Source: Ben Solomon / Mubadala DC Citi Open
Sebastian Korda has tennis in his genes, and a champion’s mindset etched in his DNA.
The soft-spoken American is the son of two former professional tennis players and his siblings are two of the world’s best golfers. Not surprisingly, he’s one of the world’s best tennis players as well, and he proved as much on Sunday as he took home his biggest career title to date by surging past Italy’s Flavio Cobolli 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 to win the Mubadala Citi DC Open on Sunday.
The title? It’s not even half the story.
The other half is the half that made Korda, and so many spectators in the stadium on a muggy Sunday evening, emote. By emerging victorious, the 24-year-old joined his father Petr as one-half of the first father-son duo to ever win the same ATP title.
Petr, a former World No.2 and Australian Open champion, won it in 1992, and reached the final another two times.
He wasn’t in attendance on Sunday, but his name, etched on the stadium’s facade along the many legendary past champions, made a heavy impression on his son.
“I cried a little bit,” Korda later admitted. “Pretty emotional. So many times I've practiced or played on center court here. Get to see my dad in '92 always right across from where you sit down. It's pretty cool to finally put my name up there, as well.
“Hopefully he comes with me next year just to be here and experience this special moment.”
Korda, a smooth-striking baseliner who is blessed with easy, repeatable power, a sneaky-good serve and the ability to glide into net to pick off volleys, took command of Cobolli after a shaky start, and raced through the final 11 games to become the first American to win the title in DC since Andy Roddick in 2007.
Though at times he has struggled to fulfill his vast potential, there is a feeling that this title may be a spark that helps Korda get to the next level. He snapped a streak of six consecutive finals lost and claimed his biggest career title, and he did it the hard way: from behind a set in the final, from a pair of match points down in the round of 16 against Thanasi Kokkinakis, Korda demonstrated grit and experience as well as his obvious shotmaking prowess.
“I was about a couple inches from being on a plane to Montreal honestly,” he said. “In a way I got super lucky against Thanasi. Just kind of stuck with it, kept rolling with it, tried to stay positive.
“Just hoped that good things would happen. Here I am with the trophy.
He’s looking like a player that is ready to take flight.
He was only broke twice in the whole tournament, another positive sign.
He said he loves the hot, humid conditions like he saw in Washington, D.C., which could bode well for him at the US Open as well.
“That's probably the biggest key of my game, is really to have a high first-serve percentage and try to serve great. If I can do that, hopefully I can win more,” he said.
For his efforts, Korda will rise to No.18 in the ATP rankings on Monday, another career-high. The best is surely yet to come.