“Hopefully he’s won already” - Nelly Korda on why she wasn't watching brother Seb’s Australian Open match
Sebastian Korda beat Daniil Medvedev in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday, January 20. The 22-year-old American knocked out the Russian in straight sets 7-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Korda produced the best performance of his career so far to beat last year’s runner-up and advance to the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time in his career.
While the world watched Sebastian’s big win, one person missing from the audience was his sister and LPGA star Nelly. On Thursday, she revealed that she wouldn’t be watching her brother play as she is playing at the LPGA’s season opener at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
She added that she was missing her brother’s match due to the time difference and said that she hoped Sebastian would’ve won by the time she was up.
Speaking to the media after her opening round at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on Thursday, Nelly Korda said:
“Yeah, I’m not going to be watching. Hopefully it’s not still going by the time I’m up. Hopefully he’s won already.”
However, she added that her parents would definitely be watching their son play:
“But yeah, I’m sure my parents are going to watch. They’ll be a little sleep deprived tomorrow walking 18.”
"The biggest win of his career."
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It is pertinent to note that Nelly has often traveled to great lengths to watch her brother play. It’s safe to assume that she would have been overjoyed waking up to the news of the 22-year-old beating Daniil Medvedev.
Further explaining her sticky situation, Nelly stated that she has a 4:15 a.m. wake-up call due to her own event.
She is currently teeing up for round 2 at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, as her brother celebrates his victory. The golfer sat second on the leaderboard behind Canadian Brooke Henderson at the end of Day 1.
Nelly Korda will be focused on turning things around and taking the lead on Friday.
The Korda family is exceptionally athletic
It would be an understatement to say that the Korda family is athletically gifted.
The sisters Nelly and Jessica are no strangers to golf fans. The two LPGA stars are among the best in the world in the sport. While their brother, Sebastian “Sebi” Korda might not be as good in golf, he is currently the World No. 30 in tennis.
It is noteworthy that Sebastian wasn’t really an exception among the siblings. He simply followed in the footsteps of his parents, Petr and Regina, both of whom are former Czech tennis stars.
Sebastian proved his skills on Friday by beating Medvedev and advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open. Interestingly, the youngster will be following his dad’s footsteps if he goes on to win the event as Petr did in 1998.
"I'm definitely the worst athlete in the family so far." 😂
The Korda family are pretty incredible!
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Notably, Sebastian even addressed his family's achievements after his win over Medvedev and said that he's been the 'under achiever' in his family so far.