With all of the success of countrymen Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz this spring and summer, former World No. 15 Sebastian Korda has become a forgotten man.
Korda, 25, last played at Roland Garros and has been battling a right shin stress fracture, missing the entire grass court season and part of the American hard court circuit.
Korda has little time to prepare for the U.S. Open, but the No. 11 seed at the Winston-Salem Open has won a pair of matches, defeating Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals.
“It was a rollercoaster today, I was just waiting my turn,” said Korda, now No. 86 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “He was playing some great tennis, so I was just waiting to see if his level dipped a little bit. Luckily, I played a solid second game in the second set and started playing a lot better.”
His serving was outstanding, winning 82.1 percent of his first service points and defending all six of Majchrzak’s break point chances.
Korda will face No. 13 Miomir Kecmanovic on Thursday. The Serbian blitzed No. 3 Luciano Darderi of Italy, 6-3, 6-1 in just 58 minutes.
Kecmanovic’s countryman, Hamad Medjedovic also sprung an upset, knocking off No. 4 Canadian Gabriel Diallo, 6-4, 6-2. Medjedovic had taken out another seeded player, No. 15 Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain on Tuesday.
In other afternoon matches, Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics surprised No. 14 Spainard Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-4, 6-3 and, in a battle of seeded Frenchmen, No. 9 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard bested No. 8 Alexandre Muller, 6-3, 6-2.
Three matches will be played this evening, including a contest between No. 5 Lorenzo Sonego of Italy vs. No. 12 Jaume Munar of Spain.
–Field Level Media
