WHAT HAPPENED: This summer, Sebastian Korda passed up playing in the Paris Olympics in order to hone his game on hard courts. A win in Washington, D.C., and a semifinal showing in Montreal elevated him to the No. 16 seed at the US Open, but in the first round, he struggled to steady himself against the erratic Frenchman Corentin Moutet, though he still came away with a 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-0 win.
The match was marked by some inconsistent play by both players, including two code violations by Moutet. In the end, Korda said that it was difficult when the talented Moutet was “trying all kinds of things” but that, as for himself, he just had to “keep my cool.”
In the first set, both players struggled to calibrate their strokes. After trading breaks early on, they both held serve somewhat erratically, with the lefty Moutet employing a grab bag of slices from both sides with an occasional drop shot to keep Korda off-balance. Korda found steadiness on his serve when he needed to. Serving at 2-3, 15-0, Korda chased a lob for a didn’t-have-to tweener that Moutet volleyed wide. That inspired shot nevertheless failed to inspire him, as the players continued to spray shots but held serve to 6-6. The tiebreak proved Korda the steadier player, going up 6-3 after Moutet netted consecutive shots. Korda closed the set with a volley winner after a deep approach.
The second set proved more frustrating and volatile for Moutet. In the second game after an easy miss, Moutet broke his racquet, earning a code violation, and Korda broke Moutet’s serve. While not looking sharp, Korda did enough on his own serve to go up 4-1. But shortly after, Moutet earned another code violation and a point penalty for complaints about the umpire using his phone. Moutet requested the supervisor be called and play was delayed while they discussed the issue. Korda served out the set to take a 2-0 lead.
After a bathroom break, the third set got no better for Moutet, as Korda broke in the first game, giving him 19 of the last 25 points. His strategy seemed to try to be steady enough to cause Moutet to make mistakes, and the Frenchman frequently talked to himself after unforced errors, while occasionally delivering some beautiful forehands and deft drop shots but not enough to take a game. His 44 unforced errors told the story. Korda himself was not as consistent as he’d like, with 33 unforced errors and only a 58% first-serve percentage.
WHAT IT MEANS: Getting a straight-sets win under his belt in the first round puts Korda on a good path, and he can take some solace in knowing that he played his best on the important points and didn’t let the distractions that came with Moutet bother him. But he’ll have to clean up his strokes and elevate his serve if he expects to be successful in the second round and beyond. He next faces Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, who is ranked No. 78 and reached the third round at the Australian and French Opens, with additional big wins this year against Andrei Rublev and Andy Murray in Miami and against Novak Djokovic in Geneva on clay.
MATCH POINT: Korda looked aggressive in his first round, frequently coming forward behind his inside-out forehand and winning 28 of 41 points at the net.
