CITI OPEN

August 3, 2021

Sebastian Korda

Press Conference

S. KORDA/V. Pospisil

7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When was the last time you were in D.C. and what are your memories of it?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Last time I was in D.C., I think it was 2014. The memories weren't so good. The player my dad was coaching, Radek Stepanek, was playing a night match. He was up, like, a set, 4-1, double break, 40-15, and lost the match (laughter). Last time I was here wasn't some great memories.

But I always love coming to this tournament. I think I came two, three years in a row, and it was really awesome.

Q. Were you just part of the entourage?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, I would always in the summers go with Radek. I would go to this tournament, then we would go to Toronto, Montreal, then New York. He'd always bring me along. Yeah, just super grateful for those experiences, having a person like that in my life.

Q. What did you learn going along on the tour with your dad and Radek?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Just kind of what it takes to be a professional. The day that a professional has, it's a long one. It starts early in the morning. Most of the time you finish late at night. So just getting that professional mindset from him was probably the biggest thing that I picked up.

Q. You practiced with Rafa. I asked him what he thought of your game. He said, I think he's going to be a great one. He had really high praise for you. What is it like to hear something like that?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, I read it a little bit. So I was -- yeah, it was awesome. I looked up to him ever since I started playing tennis.

The first real memory I have, I would always camp out in front of the locker room, just wait for Radek. I think when I was eight years old, we were in Miami, and he came up to me as he was leaving the locker room and just said hi. I shook my head a little bit.

Yeah, ever since I started playing tennis, I kind of really looked up to him. Now to be able to practice and play against him is a dream come true. Hopefully we can have many more battles against each other.

Q. Does he know that story?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: No, probably not. Probably not. He's been super nice, especially in, like, the locker rooms. He always says hi. His team is great as well to me.

Q. Your dad won here in '92. If you were to win this, would it make it more special?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: No, it would be super cool. My dad winning it, then Radek, he won here as well. I think that would be really awesome, just having my dad coaching him, then coaching me. If we were somehow to pull it off and win this tournament, it would be something super special, that's for sure.

Q. How confident are you right now?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, very. I mean, I've had a really good year so far. Sometimes you don't realize how great of a year you've had. A year ago I was ranked 220 in the world, now I'm in the top 50 competing for tournaments. The process has been sped up super fast. Kind of sometimes you don't realize how well you're doing.

I really noticed that after Wimbledon. I kind of sat down and just thought about the year, how it's gone. Yeah, just super happy with how everything's going. I'm putting in the work. Every day I'm just super grateful to be out here.

Q. A lot of young guys around your age are doing well at this tournament. What do you think of your generation?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: I think especially the Americans now. We have myself, Jenson Brooksby, Brandon Nakashima, Tommy Paul, Reilly, Taylor, Frances. We have a really good group right now. We're pushing each other. We all want to be the No. 1 Americans. Yeah, I think we're really pushing each other and it's really showing because we've all had some really good results this year.

Yeah, of course you have guys like Felix, Sinner, Alcaraz, Musetti, a really good generation coming up and it should be exciting.

Q. What are your goals for the rest of the year?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: I don't know. I mean, at the beginning of the year my goal was to finish the year top 50. I'm almost there to finish it. But, yeah, I'd love to finish now top 30 with how everything's going right now. Just to keep enjoying myself, keep learning. I've never played any of these tournaments. It's all new, different things for me.

Yeah, those are just probably the biggest things for me.

Q. Back to the practice with Rafa. Anything you've learned from him that you saw on that day?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, I think my agent always says the practice with Rafa is a whole different level. The intensity that he brings right from the beginning is something that no other player can really do. He's really special in that.

He always has a purpose with whatever he's doing. He's always talking to his coach, trying to figure out things, what works on the court, what doesn't work on the court.

Yeah, I took a lot from that. I asked a couple of questions. Yeah, he's been awesome to me.