At the same tournament where his father Petr won the biggest title of his career 24 years ago, Sebastian Korda achieved a milestone of his own.
The 22-year-old American rallied to a marathon 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10/7) win over Hubert Hurkacz on the Rod Laver Arena to reach the last eight of a major tournament for the first time. Korda is only playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the ninth time in his career. Furthermore, his latest victory is only the second time he has beaten a player in five sets.
Korda, who won the Australian Open boy’s title just four years ago, believes his latest triumph is partly linked to his ability to learn quickly from mistakes. In the past, he has suffered some heartbreaking losses with the most recent being earlier this month. At the Adelaide International, he had a match point to beat Novak Djokovic in the final but ended up losing in three sets.
“I think I’m really good at just kind of moving forward, learning from my mistakes, what I’ve done in the past, then using them in matches like this,” he said.
“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 (in Melbourne) with Medvedev.
“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.”
Guiding the youngster on the Tour is former player Radek Stepanek who played a key role in inspiring Korda to take up tennis full-time. As a teenager, he was also a good ice hockey player and played on a team who had some members that got drafted into the NHL.
“I switched over because I went to the US Open in 2009 with my dad and Radek. He (Stepanek) made the round of 16. He played Novak on Arthur Ashe 10:30 at night, completely packed,” he recounted.
“I went back the next day and I said, this is what I want to do. I fell in love with the energy of the crowd, the way the sport is played, and how mental it is. The rest is history.”
It wasn’t just Korda who has been inspired by former world No.8 Stepanek. Jiri Lehecka previously spoke about watching his compatriot play growing up and visualising what it would be like if he did the same one day.
Lehecka, who is currently ranked 71st in the world, no longer needs to dream after joining Korda in the last eight at Melbourne Park. In his fourth round clash, he stunned Feli Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-6(3). He is the seventh Czech man to reach the last eight of the Australian Open. Among those to do so in the past was Korda’s father who represented the Czech Republic during his playing days.
“Of course, I didn’t expect that, for sure,” Lehecka said of reaching the quarter-finals. “But deep inside, me and my team, we believe that I have the game and that I am able to produce very good tennis, which can take me to higher places. To a better ranking, to further in a tournament.’
“Here we are. We are in the quarters. Hopefully, we will go one more step, step after step. We will see how it will go.”
Should Korda and Lehecka continue to defy the odds, they could face each other in the semi-finals if they win their next matches.
