Korda Back On Track With Washington Win

Sebastian Korda earned a bounceback victory on Tuesday to reach the second round of the Citi Open.

The American snapped a three-match losing streak with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win against Ilya Ivashka, who reached the semi-finals last week in Atlanta. Korda will next play 12th seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina, whom he defeated in last year’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals.

“He’s an unbelievable player when it’s in his strike zone,” Korda said of Baez. “Just kind of [have to] mix it up and hope for the best.”

There was little to differentiate the two players on Stadium Court, but Ivashka made two consecutive unforced backhand errors from 5/5 in the second-set tie-break to relinquish his chance to force a decider. Korda triumphed after one hour and 40 minutes.

Two other Americans were unable to advance. Japanese lefty Yoshihito Nishioka eliminated last week’s Atlanta finalist, Jenson Brooksby, 6-4, 6-3, and Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori rallied past Mackenzie McDonald 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Briton Kyle Edmund earned his first ATP Tour win in 29 months on Monday, but was unable to replicate the feat Tuesday. Countryman Daniel Evans ousted Edmund 6-1, 6-2.

The 16th seed won 61 per cent of his return points and broke his opponent’s serve six times from eight opportunities to move on after 63 minutes.

“My focus was very good. I had a bit of a blip at the end, but I thought I didn’t do much wrong. He hit I think three winners,” Evans said in his on-court interview. “Just really happy to be going still. It’s always nice to start a new swing off with a win and it’s nice to be through to the third round.”