Sebastian Korda
Sebastian Korda lost to Rafael Nadal 2-6, 6-1, 6-7 in an intensely fought match
Sebastian Korda put up a tweet thanking the crowd following his loss against Rafael Nadal at the Indian Wells Masters. The two players treated the audience with an amazing encounter which saw Nadal eventually winning it in the third set tie-breaker.
Local favourite, Korda put up a valiant performance which was appreciated by one and all present at the court. Nadal went into the match as the 4th seed and the outright favourite but Korda definitely didn’t allow it to be a cakewalk for him. At one point in the match, it appeared Korda would actually win but Nadal used all his experience and skills to seal the tie.
Korda is one of the fastest emerging stars of men’s tennis and the youngster did give a good account of himself in this match infront of his home crowd. Korda beat Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 6-4 in the first round to set up this match against Nadal. The 21-year old is currently placed in the 40th spot in the ATP Rankings. Korda is a junior Australian Open champion and is coached by his father, Petr Korda who is a former Grand Slam champion.
Rafael Nadal’s win against Korda is now his 13th consecutive victory this season. The Spaniard has made his best ever start to the season winning 13 out of 13 matches so far. Nadal is now the only player in the Open Era to have won atleast 450 matches on both hard court and clay surfaces. The 21-time Grand Slam Champion is in amazing form since the start of the season.
He has played two tournaments this year (Australian Open and Mexican Open) and won both. Nadal will look to carry forward the momentum to his next matches at the Indian Wells Masters and clinch the title.
Nadal will be facing the United Kingdom’s Dan Evans in the next round. Evans is seeded 27th in the tournament and is coming off a comprehensive straight sets victory against Federico Coria. Meanwhile, Nadal has admitted he was not in his top form against Korda and was lucky to qualify. “I do not know how I won the match. I was very lucky, as I probably played one of the worst matches of the year”, the 21-time Grand Slam champion said. Nadal praised Korda for a wonderful display of tennis. “Sebastian played very well, he was very aggressive and it was not easy to control his balls. I did not serve well and he pressured me on the return. I feel sorry for Sebastian, as he probably deserved the victory more than me”, Nadal said after the match.
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