By Randy Walker
@Tennis Publisher
Making your U.S. Davis Cup debut is not an easy task.
Pete Sampras, the greatest ever American male tennis player, famously tripped out of the starting gate in his debut against France in 1991. Jim Courier, known as one of the greatest all-time U.S. Davis Cuppers had a false start earlier that year against Mexico.
Sebi Korda, of the famous sporting bloodline in tennis and golf and the latest American hope as the next Grand Slam tournament champion, got his first at-bat for Team USA in the Davis Cup qualifier against Colombia in Reno, Nevada.
Despite being matched up against a player ranked 225 spots lower than him, good friend Nico Mejia, Korda endured the rocky-road that Davis Cup can provide and opened the best-of-five match series with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory.
“It’s definitely different,” said the No. 40-ranked Korda of playing Davis Cup versus the regular ATP Tour, while saying the nerves felt the same. “Everybody has nerves every single match, but, yeah, I was just super comfortable. I don’t really get too nervous, but, it was epic seeing the crowd kind of fire you up, all the cow bells, the drums, everything going on. It was definitely a unique experience and hopefully I can use it and keep going the way I’m going.”
Since Andy Roddick retired from pro tennis and from Davis Cup play in 2012, the United States and the U.S. Davis Cup team has been without an alpha male tennis super star that has had mass appeal beyond the tennis world. Many focus on Korda as perhaps taking that role, not only because of his immense talent and potential, but his star-power family storyline with his father being former world No. 2 and former Australian Open champion Petr Korda and his sisters Nelly and Jessica Korda being two of the best women’s professional golfers in the world. (Not to be overlooked is Sebi’s mother Regina, who reached a career-high of No. 26 and reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open twice in 1989 and 1991).
Korda is 21 years old and has reached the round of 16 twice at major championships (the 2019 French and Wimbledon in 2021) but he has yet to even win a match at the U.S. Open. U.S. Davis Cup captain Mardy Fish selected Korda to not only be part of this team, but to start in singles for this series despite being the No. 6-ranked American player. It’s an indication of the confidence he has in Korda and his future potential as a U.S. Davis Cupper and a potential Grand Slam tournament champion.
“You can just see it,” said Mejia of Korda’s Grand Slam potential. “It’s not like my word matters too much, not like I have many experience. But he has the passion to work. He has unbelievable team around him. I mean, when your dad has won Grand Slam titles, countless of Masters and ATP Tour events, he must know a thing or two that he can teach his son. As long as he stays disciplined as he is, as long as he works really hard, anything is possible. To be a Grand Slam champion many things has to happen. Whoever puts in the work, whoever makes the sacrifice, whoever wants to get far, he can make it. But many things has to happen.”
Following Korda’s win, Taylor Fritz put the United States up 2-0 to close out the first of two days of play with an easy 6-1, 6-0 win in just 53 minutes.
