The no.29 seed Sebastian Korda is in a sublime touch in the ongoing Australian Open. After shocking Daniil Medvedev couple of days back, Korda went on to send Hubert Hurkacz packing with a dramatic 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) win at Melbourne Park on Sunday (January 22).
With this Korda, former junior champion and son of 1998 champion Petr Korda, has rolled into the quarterfinals and will next face the hard-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov for a spot in semifinals. This is Korda's first major quarterfinals.
It was a back-and-forth encounter with Hurkacz that swung both ways in Rod Laver Arena. After Hurkacz sauntered through the opener, Korda took the next two sets before yielding once again to the Polish No 1 in set four. The deciding set went with serve all the way, forcing a 10-point tiebreak.
Korda rebounded from 3-1 down to lead 7-3, before squandering four consecutive points. But he locked down from 7-7 and won the final three points to claim the emotional victory.
The 22-year-old American won against Chilean Cristian Garin (6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2), Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki (6-2, 7-5, 6-4) and Russian Daniil Medvedev, the no.7 seed (7-6 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (4)) ahead of his victory.
Elsewhere Stefanos Tsitsipas saw off Jannik Sinner in five sets in the Australian Open fourth round. The no.3 seed looked to be easing to victory when he claimed the first two sets, but Sinner fought back to force a decider. Tsitsipas managed to rediscover his earlier form though to finally seal a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 victory and book his place in the quarter-finals. The Greek is the youngest player to reach three consecutive quarter-finals at the Australian Open since Novak Djokovic (from 2008 to 2010).
In 2022, Tsitsipas lost four matches to two of tennis’ rising stars, Holger Rune and Carlos Alcaraz, and was defeated in five sets by the latter at the 2021 US Open. Tsitsipas has played just one Grand Slam final, at the 2021 French Open which he lost to Rafael Nadal, and has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open three times. The 24-year-old faces Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals on Tuesday which Wilander feels will be a tough test for the world No. 4.
The Greek is the youngest player to reach three consecutive quarter-finals at the Australian Open since Novak Djokovic (from 2008 to 2010).
"It was all about getting myself relaxed and ready for the big battle in the fifth set," he explained at a press conference. "Of course, things weren't going my way after being two sets to love up. It seemed like the momentum switched dramatically, to me at least. There was a big gap that I couldn't fill in.
“But I made a few technical adjustments in the fifth, gave myself an opportunity to play a bit more loose. That really helped me serve better. I think I kept on moving. I kept on being active to be on these returns that I couldn't get in the previous sets,” Tsitsipas added.
