"I think that really helped me, especially in the last match": Korda using battle scars from narrow Nadal and Djokovic losses to advantage at Australian Open

Sebastian Korda battled past a very inspired Hubert Hurkacz for the Australian Open quarter-final and after the final, he broke down what worked for him.

Korda never played a 5th set tiebreak before but he handled it really well. A good start, some tumbles later but in the end the victory. It was an important win for Korda who revealed his secret after the match in an interview with Jim Courier:

"The towel got me through it. Every time I went to the towel, I won the point, so I just kept going to it. My new friend over there in the blue box."

In the press conference after the match, Korda adressed the tiebreak finish:

"I played a couple loose points, but Hubie also played a little better in that situation, got it back. Then I kind of found my feet again and played three great points to close it out."

Reflecting on his past match, Korda admitted her learned a lot from them:

"I think I've had a tough match with Rafa, serving for it a couple times. Match point with Djokovic. I think that really helped me, especially in the last match with Medvedev, closing out that tiebreaker. Then today as well. I think all those little moments that I've gone through, kind of learning from them, staying patient, staying positive, going through the process I think have really helped me going forward."

And concluded with:

"Especially in the Djokovic match, with the one match point I had, played a little more defensive than I usually do, but also he played three great points. I think I used that really well recently. Any bigger point that I have, I'll try to go a little more, try to be a little more aggressive."