MUBADALA CITI DC OPEN

August 1, 2024

Sebastian Korda

Press Conference

S. KORDA/T. Kokkinakis

6-7, 7-5, 3-2 (ret.)

THE MODERATOR: Very tough match. Maybe not the way you wanted it to end. Still a big win for you.

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, it was pretty crazy. I don't know how I saved that one match point. That was pure luck. Just happy to get through that one. Obviously not the way I wanted to finish. Yeah, it was a tough day out there today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You're down 5-2, he hits an ace. You shrug, go for the changeover. Do you remember what you said to yourself at that point to start that rally?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, I mean, honestly my goal was just to have as long of a first set as possible, see how it goes from there.

Yeah, he was playing some great tennis. When I was down 5-2, I saw him, he was kind of slowing down a little bit with the pace of his serve, movement a little bit.

I just tried to keep hydrated honestly. That was probably the key today, just to stay hydrated, make sure that I'm all good to go in case I somehow get it back.

Q. Did you feel okay given the conditions? You're facing a 5-2 deficit, later match points. How did you feel in suboptimal conditions?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: I was pretty pissed off when I was down 5-2. But I felt fine. Luckily and unluckily I had three or four weeks in Bradenton, Florida, where it's probably worse than this honestly. I was practicing there for a couple weeks, just getting used to the conditions.

At the beginning when we were in Europe, it was pretty cold throughout the whole clay court and grass court swing. It was nice to get home, get used to the heat, get ready for hopefully a big U.S. hard court swing.

Q. Second set you're trying to extend the match, trying to win that tiebreak. Do you see an opening given what his status was at that point? In other words, should you hold on in the tiebreak?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: First or second set?

Q. Second?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: He was serving great. If I could somehow get back into the match, yeah, that was the key. I saw he was slowing down. I saw that he was struggling a little bit.

Honestly, my goal was just to somehow fight my way back into it, just make it as ugly and grueling of a match as it could possibly be.

Q. Next opponent, there's familiarity there in terms of Jordan. What are you looking forward to?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, looking forward to it. He's been a good friend of mine for a long time. He lives in Bradenton, as well. We've practiced a ton, but never played a real match on tour. It's going to be exciting.

He's incredibly fit. It's going to be definitely a very, very tough match. We're going to play doubles in about half an hour, so... Hopefully we win tonight and tomorrow.

Q. When you and Thanasi are both going through it like that, the same conditions, are you hyper-focusing on looking to see things you can take advantage of specifically in the third set? Do you see that as an opportunity?

SEBASTIAN KORDA: Yeah, it's a big opportunity. Especially after I won the second set, he took a medical timeout, he wasn't feeling too good. That's when you kind of try to stay calm. Also not easy to play someone who is struggling. They just kind of go for their shots. Sometimes they land in, then it can be a little bit tricky for you.

The key was to get as many balls back as possible and then figure it out.