Sebastian Korda didn’t grow up in the DMV, but the American No.4 has long had a soft spot for the Mubadala Citi DC Open.
His father, Petr Korda, won the event in 1992. His coach, Radek Stepanek, won in 2011.
When Korda was a teenager and his father was Stepanek’s coach, he’d often join them on their summer trips to Rock Creek Park. Korda would see his father’s name and Stepanek’s name on the awning of champions inside Stadium Court and imagine his name one day joining theirs.
On Saturday, Korda took a big step towards making that a reality, ending Frances Tiafoe’s deepest run at his hometown tournament with a 6-4, 6-4 semifinal triumph. Korda’s win capped off another epic day at the FitzGerald Tennis Center with packed stands for the 44th and 45th consecutive sold-out sessions.
With the win, Korda secured a berth in his first ATP-500 final and a date against rising Italian Flavio Cobolli.
“This is definitely one of my favorite tournaments,” Korda said. “I love coming here. I have a pretty great connection to the city. Just to play here is pretty special. To play my first [500-level] final here, it's going to be pretty cool. Hopefully I can put my name up there along with my dad's.”
Korda was all business Saturday, breaking Tiafoe in the opening game and forcing the hometown favorite to play catch up the rest of the night.
“Once he gets going, once he gets the crowd going, he's one of the toughest players to play,” Korda said of Tiafoe. “I tried to make it as boring and as normal as I possibly could. I didn't want him to start getting everyone involved. He’s a different player when he's really feeling it.”
Korda fired 12 aces in the win and saved the only break point he faced.
Tiafoe left the court to a tremendous ovation from the DC crowd, who were appreciative of his career-best semifinal run in Washington.
“Obviously it's tough,” Tiafoe said. “But it was a great week. I mean, I've only been trying to gain momentum… It's the first time I've won three matches in a row since Houston [in April]. That's obviously a really long time. It was a really good week overall. You have to tip your cap sometimes. Seb played incredible tonight.”
Korda faces Cobolli Sunday evening (not before 5:30 p.m.) after the Italian continued his magical run with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over World No.14 Ben Shelton before an overflow crowd on John Harris Court.
“I think this is my week,” Cobolli said after advancing to his first career ATP final. “A little bit lucky. I don't know, I just play my game every match. I think you have to believe in yourself always. I did. I'm here, so I'm happy.”
Cobolli is still a relatively fresh face on the ATP Tour, but the 22-year-old is quickly making a strong impression on fans in DC.
En route to his maiden finals appearance, Cobolli was nearly sent packing, saving five match points in a third-round win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He then beat American Alex Michelsen in a third-set tiebreak, before rallying from a set down to beat the hard-serving Shelton.
“I'm really proud of myself,” he said. “It was a very tough match, a great battle. It's always tough to play against Ben on this court, especially on hard court… I did three great battles. I'm very proud and happy for this match. Now I think I'm ready for the next one. I just want to wake up and play this final.”
Like Cobolli, Korda also saved multiple match points while rallying from a 6-7, 2-5 deficit in his third-round match against Thanasi Kokkinakis. Now, he’s a win away from becoming the first U.S. male champion in the nation’s capital since Andy Roddick in 2007.
“This is definitely the biggest moment, I would say biggest final of my career,” he said. “Really looking forward to it. It's going to be a lot of fun. Try to give it my all and we'll see what happens.”
