AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2022

Sebastian Korda

Press Conference

S. KORDA/C. Norrie

6-3, 6-0, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the win. How are you feeling after the match?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Good. Yeah, good. First main draw victory here in Melbourne. It's exciting. And, yeah, just played a really good match today.

Q. How happy are you with your form after your start to the year got off on a wrong foot to be able to come and play this kind of tennis?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, it wasn't easy. I didn't get a lot of preparation, didn't get any matches under my belt. But, yeah, just super happy with the way I came out. I stuck with my tactics. They worked really well and, yeah, just really comfortable on these courts here.

Q. Talk about your timeline of testing positive in Adelaide and what you had to do and what you were able to do there.

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, so, I don't know. I tested two days before I came to Australia, day before I came, and then on arrival I had a positive test. Luckily no symptoms, which was great for me, and Tennis Australia gave me a couple of gym equipment in the room so I could, so I wouldn't just sit around and kind of do nothing.

So they were really helpful with everything and I ended up doing I think seven days and I did like five negative tests. So, yeah, healthy right now and it was a difficult situation.

Q. Do you feel like any lingering sort of rust from being in the room for that long to rebuild sort of physically or tennis-wise?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: No, I think I kept myself occupied. I tried to play tennis. It didn't work out in some situations. But, yeah, I kept myself busy all the time and I had a positive mindset on all that was happening and, yeah, just kept busy and it's working really well for me right now.

Q. You're talking about the video you posted?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah (laughing).

Q. How much were you filming yourself or did you just happen to catch that one unlucky fall?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: So that was the second day that I was like playing tennis and that was the only time I recorded myself. There was like little cracks in the carpet, or not cracks, but little, it was like a little raise and it just bounced a different way and I shanked it right into the roof and it went right back right at me.

Q. What do you think is like your sort of expectations for yourself coming into this match playing someone like Norrie knowing that you're a little undercooked maybe, but how did you sort of balance that with still having confidence that you could have this, play the way you did today?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: We played a year ago in Delray Beach in the semifinals, and I also practiced with him here, so kind of learned a couple of things during the practice and just used the tactics that I did with my team really well today. I think even in the tight situations I still stayed with it. I kept being aggressive and using my powerful strokes on these fast courts.

Q. What does Australia mean to you as a place to come? Obviously juniors here, your dad winning here. I saw the scissor kick after you won very quickly. That was clearly, you were ready for that. What did kind of like just the emotions of being down here bring out for you?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, it's always special. A lot of kind of history in the family here in Australia, my dad winning here and then both my sisters winning the Australian women's golf tournament. So it's a lots of success here in Australia and it's always, I'm always super happy to be here.

The fans are incredible. The tournament's unbelievable and. Yeah, just really comfortable here and it's, they always make me feel like home here.

Q. What are your sort of expectations for this year? You've been on this circuit a couple times now. You kind of know the course. What are you hoping to do this year? What do you see for yourself?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, just keep going on the trajectory that I am. I mean, I'm putting in a lot of work. I'll go weeks where I'm not playing good tournament tennis, but I'm always positive and I'm always looking at the bigger picture. And, yeah, just trying to have fun. I'm doing something that I love and I'm just really enjoying it.

Q. How happy were you that Nellie was able to get you a picture with Tiger? It seemed like, I don't know if you were shy in that moment or you just needed her to grease the wheels or what, but how cool was that for you?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, he's got like just this presence about him that you can just feel it. My sister, they were stuck on the tee box on one of the holes because everybody was trying to drive the green, so everybody was just waiting, and he kind of like rolled you know and he was just waiting there with Justin Thomas and you could just feel that and I was just so nervous. And I ended up caddying the last six holes, I think, and like four birdies, so good caddie.

And then Nellie, my sister, absolutely loves Tiger. My whole family does. Every single time he would be playing we would be glued to the TV watching. We would always support him. And yeah, just, it was just, it was a funny situation, you know? I was grateful to get a picture with him and to watch him golf for the first time was really cool as well.

Q. You were saying you were caddying for Tiger?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: No. I was caddying for my sister and my dad.

Q. You did the whole course for them, right?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Well, I walked for like the first 12 holes, and the last six holes I was caddying.

Q. Off that, are you much of a golfer?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, I do, whenever I'm home I try to play golf, but I'm probably one of the worst golfers in my family and I still have like a 4 or 5 handicap. So, yeah, but whenever I'm home I try to play golf.

Q. It's tough competition in that family. I wanted to ask you about something that you said about Norrie. You said you had practiced together and that you had learned something. In general, when you practice with somebody that maybe you've never hit before, what are you looking for about them? Presumably some of it is about you and preparing yourself, but what can you maybe pick up or look for when you're maybe hitting with somebody that you could play a few days later or a month later or whatever?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, you just kind of, I guess every practice you're either playing with someone, you're trying different things.

In that practice I was just kind of seeing how he was playing. We haven't practiced ever together and the last time we played was in Delray Beach, so it was awhile since we played, and just figuring out the speed of the courts. Sometimes a person likes it. Sometimes he doesn't like it. I'm really comfortable on this speed of court, so it was just finding my feet and just figuring things out.

Q. In terms of what you might have seen from him, can you pick things up in a practice that can be helpful in a match against somebody?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: For sure, yeah. I mean, in that practice I was just trying different things, targeting his forehand, backhand, seeing what he likes, what he doesn't like, and I took those things from the practice and used them really well today.

Q. Do you expect goals set for the year? Are you like a goal sort of oriented person? Is that sort of a thing like you want to do to define success in 2022?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah. No, I always have a goal. Last year was to finish the year top 50, and this year I would love to push it a little bit more and finish the year top 30, 25. I got a long way to go. But, yeah, it's pretty possible with how I'm playing and just everything going on.

Q. How close to the pact, like so many Americans are, in that between 20 and 50, are there internal American competition do you think in terms of who finishes in that sort of subcategory ladder?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: For sure, yeah. I think we're all pushing each other. There's always an American pushing going further in tournaments, so it's inspiring for all of us, it's like a little competition between us and it was great to see Taylor finishing the year the way that he did, he's playing some incredible tennis, and Reilly playing in Toronto, Jenson Brooksby, Nakashima, Tommy Paul. I think there's a little competitiveness in all of us and we're all pushing each other and I think it's a great thing for ourselves and American tennis in general.

Q. Following up on that goals answer, is it always for you about rankings when you're thinking about goals and milestones or are there other things as well that factor into it for you or for now in your career it's about that sort of number next to your name?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, I think for myself it's more of like the number, but for everyone around me it's just developing my game and looking at five years, 10 years down the road just where they want to, how they see my game, where they want to, where they want me to be in the next couple of years.