Sebastian Korda has had his ups and downs on the ATP tour, battling with injury and never getting past the round of 16 of any tournament in the 2023 season.
But the youngster has found form at the Shanghai Masters, first beating world No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in the third round and defeating Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals, to become the first American to reach the Shanghai Masters semifinals.
Sebastian Korda became the first American to reach Shanghai Masters semifinals
Sebastian Korda triumphed 6-7(10), 6-2, 7-6(6) against his countryman Ben Shelton in the first all-American ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since 2017, under the closed roof of Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena.
Shelton was energetic on court as always and sent down 17 aces with his booming lefty serve, but it was the calm and collected 26th seed Korda who held firm to win despite letting slip five match points from 6/1 in the deciding-set tie-break.
“It’s super cool”, said Korda when asked about reaching his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final. “I played a really high level. Ben did as well, so I think it was a really high level. We had a lot of great points out there and hopefully it’s the first of many battles that we play against each other.”
The thrilling climax was the second tie-break of a pulsating encounter under the closed roof of Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena. Shelton had clinched an opening set, in which Korda started more confidently but could not make inroads against Shelton’s serve. The 21-year-old Shelton saved a set point at 8/9 in the tiebreaker before converting his fifth set point to deflate Korda after his positive start.
That disappointment did not deter the World No. 26. However, Sebastian Korda raced to the second set, breaking three times, as Shelton began to show signs of fatigue. That pattern continued into the decider, when Korda surged 4-2 ahead, but Shelton maintained power and accuracy with his forehand to rally and set up the closing tie-break drama. He was unable to complete the comeback, as Korda advanced having converted five of 16 break points he earned.
With his two-hour, 55-minute triumph, Sebastian Korda became the first semi-finalist from the United States in Shanghai tournament history and improved to 7-5 against Top 20 opponents this season. The 23-year-old, who upset World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in the third round and Carlos Alcaraz out of the tournament, Korda will take on 16th seed Hubert Hurkacz in his maiden Masters 1000 semifinal after the Pole defeated Fabian Marozsan 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Sebastian Korda to face Hubert Hurkacz at Shanghai Masters semifinals
Sebastian Korda would face Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters, after Hubert ended Fabian Marozsan’s fairytale run to keep the Pole in the hunt for a spot at the ATP finals. The in-form Marozsan shocked Casper Rudd on his run to a first ATP 1000 quarter-final but it was over by the Pole’s tenacity in the quarterfinals.
Sebastian Korda is yet to reach the career-high ranking of World No.2 attainted by his father; Sebastian could be on equal footing when it comes to winning a Masters title, should he prevail in Shanghai. Petr Korda won his only Masters title at the 1997 Stuttgart Masters which from 2002 to 2008 became known as the Madrid Masters. The event underwent another name-change, when it was relocated to Shanghai in 2009 and thus is now known as the Shanghai Masters.
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