Seba Korda is one of five Americans in the last 16 of the opening slam of the year. Other than the surprise that that many US players have made it that far, the surprise that Russia has two players there and none of them is Daniil Medvedev. This shows that the days of three players sharing the majord every single year like barbeque grill meat is all but over. Seba the son of Czech great Petr,other than that he is a righty and his dad was a lefty, there isn’t much difference in the way that they play. They both like to build on a solid service game foundation. First set 5-4 Karen Kachanov first set, what a time to get the ace, serving to stay in the set. Aiming for the service line gives your opponent little time to react to the serve. Like all young players on Tour, Seba is still learning the tricks of the trade. One of those, is how to judge the ball condition, the flight of the ball, how it behaves on the court and when it is struck by the racquet. That feel of the game unfortunately can’t be taught. Check out tie break 1-1 ending up rather looking sheepish there the young American.

Karen isn’t a one time Masters Champ for nothing, great hard court game. What a way to seal the tie break at 6-5 but before that Seba’s best point of the match .The deep return of serve from Khachanov, Seba recovering well in the rally to outpunch the Russian from the back court. Karen a little hasty there to come to the net giving Korda the chance at the pass. Korda’s patient game should be a threat in the clay season should he stay fit. Korda’s coach Radek Stepanek had a strong clay court game too. You wouldn’t have seen the ending of the match coming like it did if you watched the second set. Both traded excellent ground stroke winner earlier on but the end of the set was dominated by Karen. Korda called for a trainer at 3-2. First hint of something being wrong with his fitness. Korda had pain in his wrist which greatly impacts his shot making. Watching 5-3(40-15( Karen) one can see the discomfort on the American’s face. A wrist injury in tennis is mostly caused tension which translates to tightening up the racquet grip. Easing up mentally is the tonic and not letting the pressure get to you. Not a great way to end a quarterfinal, but Kachanov will take it, his second since reaching US Open last eight last year. At least the US is guaranteed of at least one player in last 4, Tommy Paul will battle Ben Shelton tomorrow in the unlikeliest of quarterfinals.

Advertisement