Korda details extent of injury obtained during Australian Open loss to Khachanov - "Some forehands I couldn't even hold the racket"

Rising American tennis star Sebastian Korda's Australian Open campaign may have ended in injury disappointment on Tuesday in Melbourne, but the 22-year-old’s post-match mindset did not reflect that.

“There are a lot of positives,” said Korda, who trailed Karen Khachanov by two sets and a break in their quarter-final clash before retiring with a wrist injury on Rod Laver Arena. “Way more positives than negatives. Today was tough, but hopefully it's nothing serious and I can take care of it, so I don't have it in the future.

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“[It was] still a great tournament [for me]. My first quarter-final in a Grand Slam. I'm going to go forward with my head high and keep working.”

Korda had his wrist taped at 3-2 in the second set against Khachanov and struggled to hit his forehand from that point on. He ultimately retired with his opponent leading 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-0, and later revealed it was a recurrence of an issue that he first experienced during his run to the championship match at the Adelaide International 1 in early January.

“I had it a little bit in Adelaide a couple weeks ago, but then it went away,” said the American. “During the matches [in Melbourne], it was completely fine. Then just one kind of mishit return, and it started to bother me a lot of after that.

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“I kind of knew what it was right away, right when I hit the return. I kind of felt that spot that I was feeling before. Some forehands I couldn't even hold the racquet. Volleying was almost impossible for me. So it was a little tough.”

The unfortunate development ended a stellar run for the 22-year-old at Melbourne Park, where he downed Cristian Garin, Yosuke Watanuki, Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz to reach his maiden Slam quarter-final.