"I don't think I'm under the radar": Sebastian Korda hopes for long rivalry with likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

ATP
Monday, 09 October 2023 at 13:12
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Sebastian Korda has spoken of his hopes for a long rivalry with the next generation of the sport, including Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Holger Rune. This comes after his recent victory against Daniil Medvedev at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The American has had a hugely successful run so far at the ATP 1000 tournament, held at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai. Korda moved past home player Bu Yunchaokete in straight sets to set up a clash with the World No. 3 in the second round. 

Their head-to-head was level at 1-1 before the match but the second seed was predicted to storm ahead with the victory, especially after he reached the final of the China Open in Beijing last week. However, the World No. 27 had other ideas and clinched the first set on a closely contested tiebreak before dominating the second to win 7-6 (8), 6-2.

Korda believes he is not an underdog

The 23-year-old, who has a career-high ranking of World No. 25, stated in his post-match press conference that he doesn't see himself as playing "under the radar" and that he hopes to establish a rivalry with some of the best players in the world, such as Alcaraz, Rune, and Sinner.

"They obviously have better results than me. I don't think I'm under the radar in any sort. You know, just have some good results here and there and hopefully be in the talks with them. But, yeah, they're incredible players and hopefully we'll be playing against each other for many, many years," he said.

Korda has seen some solid results already this season. At the beginning of the year, he reached the final of the Adelaide International 1, where he lost to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

After this, he went on to make the quarter-final of the Australian Open and while he struggled on clay, he made up for it by reaching the semi-final on the grass courts at the Queen's Club Championships.

Korda then went on to reach the semi-final of the Winston-Salem Open in August before finishing as runner-up to Adrian Mannarino in the final of the Astana Open earlier this month.

He will face twentieth seed Francisco Cerundolo in the Round of 16 at the Shanghai Masters.

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