Korda Sets All-American Parma SF Against Paul
Sebastian Korda set an all-American semi-final against Tommy Paul after taking down eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka on Thursday at the Emilia-Romagna Open.
The #NextGenATP American dropped serve only once en route to a 6-3, 6-3 victory. After defeating Andreas Seppi and top seed Lorenzo Sonego in the opening rounds, Korda has now booked his spot into his first tour-level clay-court semi-final in Parma.
“I played a great match. I know he has been playing really good tennis, he reached the semi-final in Lyon [last week],” Korda said in an on-court interview. “But it’s my first semi-final on clay and I’m super happy.”
Korda stayed aggressive throughout the match, and took control of the rallies with his big serve. He created nine break opportunities across both sets, converting on four occasions. In the first set, he took a 3-0 lead with an early break and never looked back.
But Nishioka, who defeated #NextGenATP Lorenzo Musetti on his way to the quarter-finals, struck back in the second set after once again dropping his first service game. He levelled the score at 1-1, but it would be his only look at break points during the match. Korda lost only two points on his serve in the next seven games, and reeled off the last four games to seal the victory after an hour and 21 minutes.
Korda will meet Paul in the semi-finals after the sixth seed took down Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2, 6-4. It will be the pair’s second tour-level meeting after Korda came back from a set down to win their Delray Beach battle in January on his way to the final (l. Hurkacz).
[WATCH LIVE 1]“I’m really good friends with Tommy,” Korda said. “We practise together a lot. It’s going to be a really fun match. He’s been playing great, so hopefully it will be a fun one.”
Elsewhere in Parma, Jaume Munar and Italian wild card Marco Cecchinato will meet for a spot in the final after cruising through their own quarter-final battles.
Munar, who reached a final in Marbella (l. Carreno Busta) last month, only dropped two games against fifth seed Richard Gasquet en route to a 6-1, 6-1 win. Munar didn’t face a break point, and won 96 per cent of points behind his first serve (22/23) and 100 per cent of his second serves (6/6).
Wild card Cecchinato served up seven aces in his 6-3, 6-1 victory over lucky loser Norbert Gombos. He will be seeking his fourth tour-level title in Parma, and will try to improve his 0-1 ATP Head2Head record against Munar.