Sebastian Korda stunned two-time Australian Open finalist and No. 7 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in straight sets in third-round action Friday in Melbourne.
The 22-year-old American matched his best Grand Slam result with a 7-6 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (4) win against Medvedev, who lost in the final here to Novak Djokovic in 2021 and to Rafael Nadal last year.
Korda finished with nearly twice as many winners as Medvedev (50-28) in a match that lasted just under three hours. He also posted more than twice as many unforced errors as Medvedev (55-26), who served nine aces.
Korda won the opening-set tiebreak on his third set point and finished his opponent on his fourth match point of the third-set tiebreak.
Korda, whose father Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open, previously reached the fourth round at the 2020 French Open and at Wimbledon in 2021.
Korda will next face No. 10 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland. Hurkacz went the distance for a 7-6 (3), 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 win against No. 20 Denis Shapovalov of Canada in a three-hour, 40-minute match.
“It was really tough. He was playing really well,” Hurkacz said. “It was super tough but it was super fun to play. The crowd was giving a lot of energy.”
No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece took down Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to set up a fourth-round showdown with No. 15 Jannik Sinner of Italy. Sinner ralled for a 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 win against Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics.
Tstsipas defeated Sinner in last year’s Aussie quarterfinals.
“I was good mixing it up today, mixing up my slice, opening the court,” Tsitsipas said. “I think my placement on serve was exceptional today. I didn’t have a lot of rallies on my serve, which helped a lot today to keep things clean.”
No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated No. 28 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the third round. The Canadian had a whopping 20 break points, converting six of them.
Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic upset No. 11 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-7 (8), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. No. 18 Karen Khachanov of Russia eliminated No. 16 Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9). No. 31 Yoshihito Ishioka of Japan sent home American Mackenzie McDonald, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2. McDonald had knocked off top seed Rafael Nadal in the first round.
–Field Level Media