"Beating slam-tested Daniil Medvedev is massive" - Andy Roddick lauds Sebastian Korda's straight-sets victory
Andy Roddick showered praise on Sebastian Korda for defeating two-time Australian Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev on Friday.
In yet another upset at the 2023 Australian Open, World No. 31 Korda displayed high-quality aggression to beat Medvedev 7-6(7), 6-3, 7-6(4), in two hours and 59 minutes, in the third round. Troubled by pain in his right forearm, the Russian called his trainer twice in the first set itself. He revealed after the match that his serve was affected by the pain.
2003 US Open winner Roddick joined the rest of the world in congratulating the 22-year-old Korda. The former World No. 1 pointed out how difficult it is to win five-set matches, especially against a strong and experienced player like Medvedev.
"Big win for Seb Korda. Beating someone as good and as slam-tested as Medvedev is massive. Three out of five is a different animal, and he answered the call. Very impressive against one of the toughest five set outs," Roddick tweeted.
Big win for Seb Korda. Beating someone as good and as slam tested as Medvedev is massive. 3 out of 5 is a different animal, and he answered the call. Very impressive against one of the toughest 5 set outs
Daniil Medvedev has failed to return to his highest level since losing the 2022 Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal from two sets up. Although he achieved a career-high ranking of No. 1 last year, the Russian player could only add two titles (Los Cabos and Vienna) to his cabinet. With a loss against Korda, the 2021 US Open champion is out of the top 10 rankings.
Korda, on the other hand, is off to a great start this season. He has reached the last 16 in Melbourne for the first time in his career and is all set to face Poland's Hubert Hurkacz next.
The American also enjoyed his stint at the Adelaide International 1 earlier this month, where he beat the likes of Andy Murray and Jannik Sinner. Novak Djokovic saved a match point in the finals to down Korda.
Daniil Medvedev missed the feeling of winning against Sebastian Korda
Daniil Medvedev suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss against Rafael Nadal in last year's Australian Open final, losing 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. However, he downed players like Nick Kyrgios, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Stefanos Tsitsipas on his way to the title clash.
In a press conference after Friday's match, the Russian stated that last year, he felt like winning during his matches as he was doing the right thing. But against Korda, that feeling was missing, with the American dominating him throughout.
"Last year, the matches against Nick, Felix, and Stefanos were kind of tough matches," Medvedev said. "I felt that there was a big chance I'm winning these matches. Kind of the same with Rafa, but he managed. That's why he is Rafa, he managed to beat me.
"Today was a little bit different where he was on top of me all the time, and I was trying to come back every set, trying to fight, trying to be there. That's just something about the feeling," he added.