“Reminds Me of Andy Roddick”: Miami Open Tournament Director Showers Praise on Sebastian Korda

World No. 87 Sebastian Korda registered his best-ever performance at an ATP 1000 Masters tournament. Korda made it to the quarterfinals of the 2021 Miami Open by defeating the likes of Fabio Fognini, Aslan Karatsev, and Diego Schwartzman.

Even though Korda lost to Andrey Rublev in the quarters, the American displayed he has the potential to beat the best players on the tour consistently.

The tournament director lauds Sebastian Korda

In an interview, the tournament director of Miami Open James Blake talked about his highlight of the tournament. The former World No. 4 Blake heaped praise on Korda and was proud that four American players had reached the last sixteen.

“I am a player and also an American, so seeing four Americans in the Round-of-16, first time in a long time for that, and then Seb Korda, what’s he’s been doing is absolutely incredible. Just 20 years old, really sort of rising to the occasion,” said Blake.

Blake compared the 20-year-old Korda to the 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick, as the latter had announced his presence on the ATP tour by beating Pete Sampras at the Miami Open twenty years ago.

After watching Korda go toe-to-toe with the best players, Blake felt that the young tennis star seemed comfortable and had lived up to the expectations that people had of him.

“Reminds me of when Andy Roddick burst on the scene here beating Pete Sampras at the Miami Open many years ago…. I think for Seb Korda, that’s happening to him,” added Blake.

So far, it’s been a successful season for Korda as he has achieved a career milestone by breaking through the Top-100 ATP rankings after winning his second ATP Challenger Tour title in Quimper last month.

With the European clay-court season starting in a few weeks, Korda will aim to perform well at Roland Garros, a tournament where he reached the fourth round last year.