MELBOURNE, Australia – Sebastian Korda defeated two-time runner-up Daniil Medvedev 7-6(7), 6-3, 7-6(4) in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday night, the newest in a series of victories of the young Americans against the perfect players at Melbourne Park.
Korda, the son of Petr, the 1998 Australian Open champion, is a 22-year-old from Florida who ranks twenty ninth.
He equaled his best performance at any Grand Slam tournament, reaching the round of 16.
Seeded number 7, Medvedev won the US Open two years ago and reached the finals in Australia in 2021 when he lost to Novak Djokovic and in 2022 when he lost to Rafael Nadal after a two-set lead.
This result follows two other eye-catching victories by US players, whose players last won a Grand Slam title 20 years ago. On Wednesday, Mackenzie McDonald defeated No. 1 seed Nadal. On Thursday, Jenson Brooksby defeated the number 2 seed Casper Ruud. And now it’s Korda’s turn so as to add her name to the list.
That night on the Rod Laver Arena, it was Korda who dictated many of the points, placed shots exactly where he wanted, charged forward with verve and smooth volleys. He even threw a drop shot now and again, just in case.
Korda racked up almost twice as many wins as Medvedev, 50-28, and while there have been loads of unforced errors in his rackets as well, it didn’t hurt the American.
Korda took the lead in each of the primary three sets, breaking Medvedev in his first service game every time.
And the match lasted a fraction of greater than 2.5 hours, with Korda leading 4-3, 40-15 in the third set. So near promotion, five points to win.
Just then, just then, Korda stumbled.
After Medvedev went 40-30 with a winning forehand, Korda had the possibility to hit a seemingly easy volley to take over the sport. But he missed, sending the ball too long. At the subsequent point, he scored a forehand from the baseline, his sixth unforced fault from that wing in the set – six greater than Medvedev in the meanwhile. A net backhand accomplished the gift-wrapped breaks, and one love catch later, Medvedev racked up eight more points to go up 5-4.
Nevertheless, what gave the impression of a turning point turned out to be just a flash.
Korda led 6-1 in the ultimate extra time, and although he needed to calm down again after a few missed probabilities, this time he ended up winning the sport with a forehand winner.