Sebastian Korda won’t be flying under the radar this year.
After a breakout full rookie season in 2021 when he won 31 tour-level matches and finished at No. 41 in the ATP Rankings, opponents will need to do little digging to find scouting reports on the former junior World No. 1. More success brings more scrutiny and Korda knows that he won’t catch anyone by surprise in 2022.
“Last year I was hunting everyone and now people are going to be hunting me, so it’s going to be a new thing that I’m going to experience and hopefully I’m going to do really well with it,” Korda told ATPTour.com this week at the Australian Open.
“I’ve always been around pressure with my dad [former World No. 2 Petr Korda], and how great of a tennis player he was, and my family with both of my sisters [World No. 1 LPGA star Nelly and former Top 10 member Jessica]. So, I’m used to it, I’m doing something that I love and all the pressure that I get is just good pressure.”
Korda, who reached the final of November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan (l. Alcaraz), faces a difficult opener at Melbourne Park against Brit Cameron Norrie. Although Korda defeated the lefty en route to the Delray Beach final in the first week of last season, Norrie enjoyed a breakout season of his own in 2021, finishing the year at a career-high No. 12.
“It will be another exciting match for me. He had an incredible season, especially towards the end of year; he’s playing some good tennis and hopefully we can have a good match,” said the 2018 Australian Open boys’ champion, who practised Sunday with the game’s best left-hander, Rafael Nadal.
“He’s got a really tricky game… he has a really high-looping forehand and then a kind of bunt of a backhand, so it’s two different game styles… and he’s a lefty. It’s always difficult to play a lefty and he does a really good job with how he plays.”
The Australian Open marks Korda’s 2022 tournament debut after he was forced to withdraw from the Adelaide International 1 in the first week of the season after testing positive for Covid-19. He was forced to isolate for seven days in Adelaide. Upon release, he headed straight to Melbourne to practise rather than remain in Adelaide to play the Adelaide International 2.
“It was kind of a weird case. I took a test two days before I left [the United States], the day before I left and when I arrived it was positive,” he said. “So it was weird for me but luckily I had no symptoms and Tennis Australia took really good care of me. They gave me equipment right away so I was never bored in the room and I could at least work a little bit.
“I was still playing a little bit of tennis in my room, so I still had a little feel for the ball, and I was moving around my room, so it wasn’t too bad.
“I was doing sessions over the computer with my physio and my fitness trainer, just to always be doing something and get the body moving. The thing I was looking forward to most was definitely fresh air. You take a lot for granted.”
As he begins his 2022 campaign, 6’ 5” Korda said that he expects the season ahead will be full of learnings and opportunities, including the chance to drive his ranking higher through likely direct acceptances into all the ATP Masters 1000s.
“The goal is just to keep going. It’s going to be my first official full year on the tour so another exciting year up ahead of me, so just keep on learning and keep on doing the right things and hopefully I can just keep on climbing the rankings.
“Half the tournaments that are on the Tour I haven’t even played yet, so it’s going to be new learning experiences and it’s going to be fun.”
After a breakout full rookie season in 2021 when he won 31 tour-level matches and finished at No. 41 in the ATP Rankings, opponents will need to do little digging to find scouting reports on the former junior World No. 1. More success brings more scrutiny and Korda knows that he won’t catch anyone by surprise in 2022.
“Last year I was hunting everyone and now people are going to be hunting me, so it’s going to be a new thing that I’m going to experience and hopefully I’m going to do really well with it,” Korda told ATPTour.com this week at the Australian Open.
“I’ve always been around pressure with my dad [former World No. 2 Petr Korda], and how great of a tennis player he was, and my family with both of my sisters [World No. 1 LPGA star Nelly and former Top 10 member Jessica]. So, I’m used to it, I’m doing something that I love and all the pressure that I get is just good pressure.”
Korda, who reached the final of November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan (l. Alcaraz), faces a difficult opener at Melbourne Park against Brit Cameron Norrie. Although Korda defeated the lefty en route to the Delray Beach final in the first week of last season, Norrie enjoyed a breakout season of his own in 2021, finishing the year at a career-high No. 12.
“It will be another exciting match for me. He had an incredible season, especially towards the end of year; he’s playing some good tennis and hopefully we can have a good match,” said the 2018 Australian Open boys’ champion, who practised Sunday with the game’s best left-hander, Rafael Nadal.
“He’s got a really tricky game… he has a really high-looping forehand and then a kind of bunt of a backhand, so it’s two different game styles… and he’s a lefty. It’s always difficult to play a lefty and he does a really good job with how he plays.”
The Australian Open marks Korda’s 2022 tournament debut after he was forced to withdraw from the Adelaide International 1 in the first week of the season after testing positive for Covid-19. He was forced to isolate for seven days in Adelaide. Upon release, he headed straight to Melbourne to practise rather than remain in Adelaide to play the Adelaide International 2.
“It was kind of a weird case. I took a test two days before I left [the United States], the day before I left and when I arrived it was positive,” he said. “So it was weird for me but luckily I had no symptoms and Tennis Australia took really good care of me. They gave me equipment right away so I was never bored in the room and I could at least work a little bit.
“I was still playing a little bit of tennis in my room, so I still had a little feel for the ball, and I was moving around my room, so it wasn’t too bad.
“I was doing sessions over the computer with my physio and my fitness trainer, just to always be doing something and get the body moving. The thing I was looking forward to most was definitely fresh air. You take a lot for granted.”
As he begins his 2022 campaign, 6’ 5” Korda said that he expects the season ahead will be full of learnings and opportunities, including the chance to drive his ranking higher through likely direct acceptances into all the ATP Masters 1000s.
“The goal is just to keep going. It’s going to be my first official full year on the tour so another exciting year up ahead of me, so just keep on learning and keep on doing the right things and hopefully I can just keep on climbing the rankings.
“Half the tournaments that are on the Tour I haven’t even played yet, so it’s going to be new learning experiences and it’s going to be fun.”