With family ties, American Sebastian Korda heads to Wimbledon's 4th round

WIMBLEDON, England — When Sebastian Korda struck his last competitive shot as a 20-year-old — an overhead winner that closed out a third-round victory over Wimbledon’s No. 22 seed Friday — the American raised both arms, then doubled over and rested his hands on his knees.

Up in a Centre Court guest box, the body language of his father, 1998 Australian Open champion Petr, was strikingly similar. Arms in the air, then leaning forward, reaching for the railing in front of his seat.

The younger Korda’s family bloodlines are serving him rather well at the moment. He is the son of two former professional tennis players — he credits his mother, Regina Rajchrtova, with teaching him to be calm on court — and the brother of two current stars in women’s golf — one of whom, Nelly, is ranked No. 1 and just won her first major — and is looking as if he very well could be the men’s tennis star his country has been awaiting for quite some time.

With an aggressive style that’s built for grass courts, Korda got past Britain’s Dan Evans, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, to become the youngest U.S. man to reach the round of 16 at the All England Club since Andy Roddick got to the semifinals in 2003.

“Just felt incredibly comfortable,” Korda said. “And, yeah, it was perfect today.”

His father’s take? Essentially: Not so fast.

“It’s not over,” Dad said. “Let’s not celebrate until this is done.”

One, tiny measure of how quickly his son is developing: He is only the eighth man since 2001 to reach the fourth round at both the All England Club and Roland Garros before turning 21.

Roddick’s triumph at the 2003 U.S. Open remains the most recent Grand Slam singles title for an American man, the longest drought in history for a nation that produced Bill Tilden, Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

Eight-time major champ Agassi just so happens to be a mentor of sorts for Korda. They spent two weeks working together in Las Vegas late last year and speak on the phone frequently.

“The most important thing he told me yesterday was just to enjoy it,” Korda said. “It’s your first time on Centre Court at Wimbledon, just enjoy it, embrace it, have a lot of fun.”

On Monday, Korda’s 21st birthday, he will face No. 25 seed Karen Khachanov, a Russian who eliminated Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. in straight sets.

Other men’s fourth-rounders: No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 17 Cristian Garin, No. 5 Andrey Rublev against Marton Fucsovics and No. 8 Roberto Bautista Agut against No. 10 Denis Shapovalov, who ended Andy Murray’s first Wimbledon singles appearance since 2017 by defeating the two-time champion 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Women’s matchups on Monday: No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 18 Elena Rybakina, No. 7 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 21 Ons Jabeur, No. 8 Karolina Pliskova vs. Liudmila Samsonova and No. 23 Madison Keys vs. Viktorija Golubic.

Korda is making his Wimbledon debut and participating in any Grand Slam tournament for only the third time. He made a splash at the French Open last year by getting to the fourth round before losing to his idol, Rafael Nadal (Korda’s cat is named after the 20-time major champion).

He hadn’t been to Centre Court until Friday, as a player, fan or otherwise, and resisted the temptation to pull out his cellphone to shoot some video.

“They always show how the players are walking through all the rooms, then walking down the stairs,” he said. “I just thought to myself: ‘This is nuts. What’s about to happen is going to be something I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.’ ”

Korda showed off a useful serve he varies well, groundstrokes that are strong off both sides and a willingness — well, desire — to go to the net, where he won the point on 30 of 43 trips.