The Olympics are over in Paris, and Novak Djokovic won it in an incredible match, but the same was on Sunday, here it was in Washington. The American , Sebastian Korda, won the title for the first time, and he was thrilled. He has been very good over the past five years, but he had not gone super deep, but this time, he drove, hard. Maybe now he is conscious, on the court, and he can except to add some different, excellent, shots. It is up in the air, as the No. 18 can be good and bad, but at least the Floridian will try to rise higher. This time, he was more calm.
“We’ve been joking this whole week, really just trying to enjoy the moment really of kind of where I am. I’ve been getting so lost and putting so much pressure on myself, I guess in a way caring too much.
said Korda, who beat Flavio Cobolli 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the final. “Just constantly having tennis on my mind. If I’m not doing well, being in a bad mood. Just really tried to change that around.”
He did, and now the 24-year-old can try to beat more of the top 10. This season, though, he lost against many different people, the top 10 people, a lot, but over the last six weeks, he looked impressive. It will be very interesting with the American men, such as Korda, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton.
“In a way I would say it’s healthy jealousy. When someone does a great result, the other guys want to do an even better one,” Korda said. “It’s really great all the Americans are close. All the Americans are playing really great tennis right now. Hopefully we can make a big push in the coming Grand Slam soon.”
Over in Canada, in the first round, he will have to face against the veteran, Vasek Pospisil, which could be tough, but he will try to adjust it.
The Spaniard Paula Badosa won the event, the same area in Washington, beating Marie Bouzkova 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Last year, she was ranked No. 2, but then she suffered a stress fracture, and then she couldn’t play for five months. She did come back, but it took her a while to feel the ball, into the corners, or down the line. Now she can, with some terrific topspin, and hustle, too.
“It’s a big difference now. Now I’m an athlete again,” Badosa said. “Especially I believe that the conditions here are the same as what I’m going to face in Toronto, Cincinnati and New York. At the beginning I wasn’t really sure about these conditions with my game.
Finally this gave me a lot of confidence also to win these of battles, to win a title, because I never thought I was going to play good on this hard court, but really fast. This proved me wrong. I’m looking forward for the next. Of course, this gives me a lot of confidence for the next challenges.”
She did win the first round in Canada, and more than two years ago, she was ranked No. 2, winning a lot of matches. However, in the Grand Slams, the 26-year-old has yet to reach into the semis. Maybe she can try to really push it, as now she is more real, on the court.
“I tried to calm down. I think that also helped me a bit to release my emotions because I was really, really nervous,” she said. “Sometimes I want it so much that I can’t control myself. That’s a little bit wha I changed. I’m like, Paula, it’s a set, just give everything you can, try to play your game like at the beginning of the match that I think I started really well on that and I was quite calm.It worked pretty well.”
She must have, as on Wednesday, Badosa beat Clara Tauson 6-1, 6-4. Badosa will face Jelena Ostapenko, in the next round, a powerful hitter… Naomi Osaka just smashed Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-1, so she must be ready to rock and roll…Amanda Anisimova has come back, and maybe she can stay there for a long time. She has to face against the quality opponent, Daria Kasatkina… With the men in Montreal, the former U.S. Open final, Kei Nishikori, won a match, but on Thursday, he has to play against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Ten years ago, the Japanese was so consistent, and he could be there for hours, but he got hurt, all the time, so now he is decent, but he is not fantastic anymore. We will see if he can lock it in, agains. …There should be a good match between Paul against Brandon Nakashima, as they know each other pretty well. ..Jannik Sinner is back and the No. 1 will try to eventually win the U.S. Open. However, first he has to beat a number of good people, especially this week. He will face agains Borna Coric, another very interesting player. As the Italian said, “I like to dance in the pressure storm.”