ROLEX SHANGHAI MASTERS

October 10, 2023

Sebastian Korda

Mixed Zone

S. KORDA/F. Cerundolo

7-5, 7-6

Q. Congratulations, Sebastian. Another solid performance for you today. You must be pretty happy with that.

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, he's an incredible player, probably one of the best forehands on tour, so when he gets hot, it's super dangerous. I'm happy with the way I played overall, especially in the second set, I stayed calm, and in the big moments I did pretty well.

Q. How hard was it to, well, was it hard to back up after you had such a big win over Daniil? Was it hard to back up?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, I mean, it's definitely completely a different tennis, in a way. Daniil's a defensive player, and there was a lot of people, today there weren't that many people. It's definitely, obviously, very different, but I'm happy with the way everything's going right now, and just really enjoying myself here.

Q. This equals your best result at a Masters 1000 tournament. Is that something that sort of you're aware of as you're competing?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, for sure, I think everyone knows kind of their best results. Mine was, I think, the quarters in Miami, and I lost to Rublev. I don't have to play Rublev next round (laughing), but, yeah, I'm super happy with the results. It's been a long year, but this is a pretty big reward for me.

Q. And do you set goals for yourself when you're coming into a tournament?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, for sure, you obviously want to win every single tournament. It's a long year, so you got to be consistent. That's kind of what my biggest goal would be for next year is to be a little bit more consistent, for sure.

Yeah, you know, this year I would love to finish top 20. I'm getting closer, but it's still a long way, long roads ahead.

Q. You spoke about you had a long year, you had your injury. How are you feeling now physically? Is that all behind you?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, for sure. It took awhile. I wouldn't say it's fully behind me. There's still, my wrist hurts in certain situations, but day-to-day it's getting better. Hopefully, soon I'll be back to playing freely and a hundred percent again.

Q. A tournament like this obviously helps.

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, for sure. This is just a really good place to play. The courts are super quick, you know, conditions that I really like. Yeah, just really enjoying the conditions here.

Q. Next match will be against either Sinner or Shelton. Any thoughts on that one?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, obviously two unbelievable players having really good years this year. It's going to be exciting for everyone, not only for me, I'm sure the fans are going to love it. Hopefully, the best player wins on the day.

Q. Had you looked ahead to the draw?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, obviously, you look at your draw. I'm not like, I think, Mannarino, he doesn't look at who he plays in the next round. I'm definitely not on that side, but I'm definitely not to the extreme where I check out the whole draw. But, yeah, I knew who, if I won, who I would play in the next round.