Is this the year Sebastian Korda truly breaks out?

PARIS—“You’re welcome.”

It’s not the way I’d typically begin a conversation with a professional tennis player, but then again, not many professional tennis players have written me a thank-you note.

The one who did wrote words of appreciation not on stationary from a bureau, or on a cocktail napkin from a restaurant, but on a TENNIS Magazine cover. In the July/August 2021 issue of the sadly departed publication, we ran our annual “21 & Under Club” feature, which highlighted the game’s best young pros. To put it mildly, we did OK in our prospect prognostication.

• On page 31: Alexei Popyrin, who defeated Novak Djokovic in the previous hard-court major.
• On page 37: Iga Swiatek, who would win four more Grand Slam titles after the issue went to press.
• Also on page 37: Jannik Sinner, current world No. 1.
• On page 41: A three-column page featuring Holger Rune, Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff (all of which are still under 21 and under).

So which of these players graced this special magazine’s marquee and wrote, “To ED Thanks for having me on the cover!”

None of the above. Instead, the editors gave top billing to Sebastian Korda.

Magazine cover stories are chosen for a variety of reasons, but did I get editor’s remorse for putting Korda front and center instead of Swiatek or Alcaraz? My answer is: we’ll see. For if Korda has yet to deliver in the manner that some of his fellow Clubbers have, his potential remains some of the most tantalizing.

Now 24, Korda has reached as high as 15^th in the world, is a two-time ATP Masters 1000 semifinalist (2023 Shanghai, 2024 Montreal) and reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal less than two years ago, at the Australian Open. That career achievement was particularly special—it came 25 years after his father, Petr, took home the trophy in Melbourne.

But Sebi, as he’s often called, has often left fans wanting more. Despite his bona fides, refined strokes and athletic build, the 6’5” righty has won just two tour-level titles, and has only reached the fourth round of a major once after his 2020 Roland Garros breakthrough (ranked 213^th, Korda won three qualifying and three main-draw matches). In the eyes of many critics, he’s a peg below American contemporaries who have either ensconced themselves in the Top 20 or consistently gone deep in Slams. Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton all feel a level above Korda, even if he resides just a few rungs below them at No. 22.

So when Korda and I sat down last year at Roland Garros, I asked him how he would assess his play in the three-odd years between “Thanks” and “You’re welcome.”

“Obviously a big positive. I’m doing what I love, and that’s the most important thing,” said Korda. “I’ve gone through some injuries, had some tough times, but at the end of the day it’s what you sign up for.

“I’m enjoying the ride, and hopefully I have a long journey in tennis. Keep on plugging.”

Injuries have been an indelible part of the Sebastian Korda story. He began the 2021 season outside the Top 100 but rose 55 spots after a fourth-round loss at Wimbledon to Karen Khachanov that ended 10-8 in the fifth set. But one of the most dangerous unseeded players in the North American summer hardcourt stretch went just 2-3 through the US Open, including a withdrawal from Toronto (lower back) and first-round retirement in Flushing Meadows (stomach). He would withdrew from Wimbledon a year later with shin splints, and retired from his maiden major quarterfinal at the 2023 Australian Open with wrist pain.

Then, last year, following his semifinal run in Montreal—including a three-set win over No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev—and brief stay at the US Open, Korda underwent elbow surgery.

It’s a laundry list of injuries that a player 15 years Korda’s senior could conceivably experience. But Sebastian has packed a career’s worth of pain into just a few seasons on tour—seasons that should be part of his prime.

“It was definitely frustrating,” Korda told reporters last week in Adelaide, where he returned to action. “I was playing probably some of the best tennis I’ve played in a long time. Everything was feeling good. I got to the US Open and just all turned around from there.”

But just a few days later, the seemingly rusty Korda was into the final. He dispatched Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Miomir Kecmanovic in straight sets before coming up short in a three-set clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

In the big picture, injuries haven’t weakened Korda—they’ve only delayed his success. Which makes them all the more frustrating.

The mild-mannered Korda was matter-of-fact when asked how he coped with his latest physical setback:

Definitely pretty pissed off. You try to move on as fast as possible, surround yourself with good people, try to stay positive. Sebastian Korda

Plenty of good people are In Korda’s corner. His girlfriend is with him in Australia (“We love going to zoos,” he told reporters after being spotted feeding a pygmy hippo. “It’s kind of our thing.”), and his longtime coach Radek Stepanek—formerly coached by Petr Korda—is a grinder’s grinder who refuses to let Sebi slide. He’s also coach by Martin Stepanek, who is remarkably not related to Radek.

And if Sebastian needs further athletic inspiration, he can just look to his siblings, both of whom are golf standouts. His older sister, Jessica, is a six-time LPGA Tour tournament champion; his younger sister, Nelly, is the world No. 1. Last year, Nelly won five consecutive tournaments, tying a tour record, including her second major championship.

“I’ve watched basically every Sunday that she’s been doing well,” Korda said, which was to say most Sundays in 2024. A week before our sit-down, Nelly won her sixth tournament in seven starts. “It’s awesome to watch her do her thing right now.”

“Whatever all the good things that are happening to her, she’s really earned them, and she’s continued to work hard and hopefully strive for bigger things again.”

Professional golf and tennis share many qualities, but one difference is Sundays. About half the field at each golf tournament field competes on Sundays, but only two players from each tennis tournament make it to the final day of play. For the ninth time in his career last week, Korda made it to the final Sunday. His 2-7 mark in title matches shows that simply reaching a final isn’t satisfying enough anymore.

When asked about his goals last May, Korda was modest but measured.

“I’ve played a lot of great players and I had a lot of tough matches,” he told me, “but, you know, if I can continuously keep putting myself in those positions and playing against these great players, it’ll build me as a player. Hopefully I can break into the Top 20 soon, and then, you know, wherever the rest of year takes me, it'll take me.”

Korda did achieve his Top 20 goal, but from then on, the year took him in a different direction. Based on his play so far in 2025, he’s already turned the page. The No. 22 seed’s Australian Open began with a 6-3, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over Lukas Klein (despite Korda winning just two of the last 24 points in the second set), and he’s a strong favorite against 68^th-ranked Aleksandar Vukic. Should the seeded players prevail, Korda would meet Jack Draper in the third round.

One of Korda’s goals for 2025 is, surely, to simply stay healthy. From there, anything seems possible. His talent is obvious, and his potential remains sky-high. Just ask Novak Djokovic, who saved a championship point to hold off Korda in the 2023 Adelaide final. (Korda beat Sinner and Andy Murray en route.)

Or Rafael Nadal, who met Korda four years ago in the second week of Roland Garros.

“He has a lot of difficult things and he’s doing it very natural,” said Nadal after their encounter. “So I really predict that he going to have a very good future.”

Meeting Rafa on Court Phillipe Chatrier may not have been ideal for Korda’s chances of advancing, but he got to see what his idol does best up close.

“He was always my dream matchup, was to play him here,” Korda said of the Spaniard, who won 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. “To get to that position when I was 20 years old and kind of slowly going through the rankings was a dream come true and definitely helped me.”

Asked if he had any more dream matches, Korda laughed, given that he’s played Rafa on the terre battue and Djokovic in Australia, homes away from home for two tennis legends. He says he wished he could have played Roger Federer on grass.

Let no one say Sebastian Korda isn’t up for a challenge.