Russian star Andrey Rublev revealed that Sebastian Korda’s father Petr Korda has been an inspiration for him. The world number eight stated that he trained “great techniques” from the Czech international.
Petr Korda, Sebastian Korda’s father is a former ATP world number two player. The Czech won the 1998 Australian Open and was runners up in the 1992 French Open during his days as a player.
Sebastian Korda’s father Petr Korda playing in the 1999 Australian Open. (Image Courtesy: Getty Images)
The 23-year-old admitted having gathered skills and knowledge from his opponent’s father. Talking to the media after the match, Rublev conveyed, “His father is really smart. He knows really well about tennis, he teach him really well. You can see that he has really great technique. He has really easy shots, easy movement.”
The 2020 Qatar Open Champion further asserted “I know really well his father because he was helping me a bit, especially when I was maybe 16. When I was in Bradenton IMG he was helping me, giving me advice, hitting with me. I’m really grateful to him for this. I saw Sebastian even when he was even smaller, maybe 13. I don’t know if he remembers.”
Andrey Rublev of Russia shakes hands after defeating Sebastian Korda of the United States in their quarterfinal match during the Miami Open (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Andrey Rublev in Miami Open 2021
Rublev faced Sebastian Korda in the quarter-final of the Miami Open and defeated him by 7-5, 7-6(7) margin. Sebastian’s skills amazed Andrey on the court as the Russian praised the Czech prodigy for fighting it hard to take the sets from 3-5 down and stated that he was lucky to have qualified for the semis.
Ruthless Rublev 🔥@AndreyRublev97 pushes past a valiant Sebastian Korda 7-5 7-6(7) to reach his first Masters 1000 semi-final. #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/lpEoGNy85P
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 2, 2021
Andrey is set to face Hubert Hurkacz in the semi-final of the Florida event. Hurkacz, the Polish star is already on the news after beating ATP world number five Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-final. It will be interesting to see how Petr Korda’s “Great Techniques” come in handy to Andrey Rublev’s quest to the Final.
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