CINCH CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 23, 2023

Sebastian Korda

Queens Club

Press Conference

S. KORDA/C. Norrie

6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Well done, Sebastian. That was a pretty impressive performance. Anything in particular you were happy about today?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah. It was a great performance by me and another kind of, you know, another great opportunity kind of just to see where I'm at. And kind of just keep trusting my wrist and my body and kind of just getting matches under my belt. I think that was huge, and especially very happy to come out with a win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. It felt like the momentum maybe swung against you a little bit when Cam broke back in that second set. What was it like playing against that British crowd with the British No. 1? How did you wrest back control and ultimately dominate that tiebreak?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, he played an unbelievable two games, broke me, and then held serve. I didn't think I played bad at all. I think he just played those games a little better than I did.

You know, that's one of the things that he does so well is always keep on fighting no matter the score. He could be down 6-0, 5-0, 40-Love, and he's still going to be coming out there and try and come back. I think that's one of the best things about him. I just tried to stay calm and keep just trusting myself.

Q. Great win today. You said the other day that you consider yourself one of the favorites for Wimbledon. Other players coming back from injury maybe wouldn't put that pressure on themselves. Are you the kind of person that likes to speak kind of things into existence? Does that work for you?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: No. I don't know where that came from really. I'm pretty kind of just laid back (smiling). I don't know what I was probably thinking. Just kind of hyped up on the match that I played.

You know, it's always a privilege kind of being in the position that I'm in. I have a big game, and, you know, I love playing on grass. So who knows what could happen, but I think one of the biggest things is to kind of have confidence in yourself and just to believe in yourself. I think those are the two biggest things that I can do for myself. Who knows what's going to happen.

Q. A performance like today I guess makes you feel even better than you felt the other day? How does it compare I guess for you?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, any match that I can get on the grass is huge, especially playing the players that I have been playing. They have been really good grass court players. They're not someone that kind of just, you know, doesn't have too much experience.

You know, I think Cam had a semi last year at Wimbledon. Frances won in Stuttgart. And Dan, who's pretty experienced on the grass as well. It was three great matches for me. I couldn't be happier to get those under my belt. Just moving forward, I'm just going to keep focusing and keep enjoying myself here.

Q. Just on the confidence, is that like a mindset shift or is it just a combination of form, fitness, environment?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, it's a bit of everything. You know, especially adding Jez Green to my team, he gives me the confidence that my body is ready for these kinds of big matches and I'm not going to have to worry about being really sore the next day or possibly something hurting me.

Those are really big just confidence-wise. Mentally, especially when you're playing hopefully at Wimbledon, you know, even like a deep five-setter, I will have that confidence in my head and I can just keep going. Definitely those are probably the biggest things that you can have as a tennis player.

Q. You said earlier it kind of gave you an idea where you're at at the moment. Where do you feel you're at at the moment?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: I feel every match every single day I'm getting more and more confident, especially with my wrist. The biggest issue was kind of just letting it go and to really just trust it again. It was definitely, for a little bit it was more mental than there was actual pain, kind of just letting it go.

It was pretty tough to kind of let go. Occasionally I'll still have something possibly on a volley or some other thing, but, you know, I think right now with everything how it's going, you know, I'm just very pleased with the progress I'm doing right now and just very thankful for it as well.