American rising star Sebastian Korda has reached his first ATP final after knocking out Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in straight sets at the Delray Beach Open.
The 21-year-old required less than 90 minutes to secure a 6-3, 7-5, win over Norrie who is currently ranked 45 places higher than him in the ATP rankings. Korda broke twice in each set but experienced a slight blip during the closing stages. Leading 6-3, 5-4, he served for the win and had two match points but failed to convert either as Norrie broke back to level 5-5. However, the world No.119 prevailed two games later after a Norrie forehand slammed into the net.
“I’m fired up right now, I couldn’t be happier,” atptour.com quoted Korda as saying during his on-court interview.
“[Norrie] has a super tricky game. His backhand cross is world class, and his forehand once he gets it rolling cross it’s hard to defend. I’m super happy with the way I stayed aggressive and played the whole match,” he later added.
The victory continues Korda’s series of impressive results in the ATP 250 event. Earlier in the tournament he also scored wins over fifth seed Tommy Paul and second seed John Isner. Prior to this week he was yet to win a main draw match on the ATP Tour outside of the Grand Slams. Korda’s father Petr is also a former player who won the 1998 Australian Open.
A former Australian Open boys champion himself, Korda has been steadily rising up the ranks in recent months. Since the start of last year he has risen by over 100 places in the world rankings. At the French Open last October he achieved his best Grand Slam performance by reaching the fourth round.
Standing in Korda’s way of the title is Polish No.4 Hubert Hurkacz who is yet to drop a set in the tournament. Hurkacz booked his place in the final by ending Christian Harrison’s fairytale run with a 7-6(4), 6-4, win. Harrison, who has undergone eight surgeries within the past decade, was playing in his first Tour semi-final at the age of 26.
“Christian was playing very well,” Hurkacz said of Harrison’s performance. “He was serving tricky. He was slicing and kicking and then placing the ball really well. So I was struggling with that, especially the first set.”
Hurkacz is through to only his second ATP Final after the 2019 Winston-Salem Open where he won his maiden title. He is currently ranked 35th in the world.
“It’s a great start to the year,” Hurkacz said. “I’m looking forward to playing the final.”
Korda will be bidding to become the fifth different American player to have won the Delray title within the past six years.
