Korda battles back to win Washington title, matching father's feat from 1992
Playing in his eighth tour-level singles final, Sebastian Korda won his second title at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 triumph filled with significance.
In becoming the first American man to win the Washington crown since Andy Roddick in 2007, the home favourite also matched his father, Petr Korda, who won the D.C. title in 1992. The Kordas are the first father-son duo to win the same title on the ATP Tour.
Looking forward, the triumph set Korda up to rise to a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 18 on Monday.
Show time 🎬@SebiKorda and Cobolli are delivering in DC!@mubadalacitidc | #MubadalaCitiDCOpen pic.twitter.com/1lnYkQ7HbE
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 5, 2024
After a two-hour delay due to rain and a three-set women’s final, Korda dominated much of the match against first-time finalist Cobolli. But the Italian came up with one of the shots of the day on his first break point to snatch the opening set with a screaming forehand winner.
From 1-2 in the second, Korda won 11 straight games to run away with the ATP 500 title. Playing within himself, he leaned on his experience to see off a spirited effort from the 22-year-old Cobolli, who competed in the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in November.
Now 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head, Korda now has one “road” win in Rome in addition to this victory in front of his home fans in Washington.
Both men have saved match points on their way to the title match: Korda saved two against Thanasi Kokkinakis in the third round, while Cobolli fought off five against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round.
Like Korda, Cobolli will also leave Washington with a career-high PIF ATP Ranking. The Italian is set to move up 15 places to World No. 33 on Monday.
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