Emerging star Sebastian Korda will proceed his quest for household sporting supremacy when he takes on Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz within the fourth spherical of the Australian Open.
Fresh off a breakout victory over former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev, the 22-year-old American is looking for his maiden grand slam quarter-final berth.
Korda has reached the fourth spherical of a serious twice earlier than however has but to make it to the ultimate eight.
The silky right-hander is within the type of his profession after coming near defeating Novak Djokovic within the Adelaide International closing and destroying Medvedev in straight units.
But Korda believes his achievements pale compared to these of different members of his gifted household.
Korda’s father Petr claimed his solely grand slam title with victory at Melbourne Park in 1998, whereas his sisters, Jessica and Nelly, are each Australian Open champions in golf.
After gorgeous Medvedev, Korda joked he was “definitely the worst athlete in the family so far”.
“My dad always loved coming here and playing (in Australia),” he mentioned.
“Both my sisters, they love coming here.
“It’s a particular place for us, we have had some actually nice outcomes.”
Korda’s mother Regina also played tennis professionally and the youngster credits her advice and attitude for his explosive start to 2023.
“My mum is all the time actually huge on having a great angle,” Korda mentioned.
“Throughout this entire 12 months, I have never had one detrimental thought, whether or not it is ready for transportation to go to the courts, whether or not it is consuming lunch, doing something.
“That’s one of the biggest things, just having a new motto of ‘positive energy is more positive than negative energy’.”
But Hurkacz, the tenth seed, will present stern opposition after taking down extremely rated Canadian Denis Shapovalov within the third spherical.
“His serve is definitely one of the best on tour,” Korda mentioned.
“Just the way he moves, kind of similar style a little bit to Daniil.
“Usually each time we practise, he really wins the event. I all the time give him jokes about that.”
