Giantkiller Sebastian Korda said that learning from his mistakes helped him surge into a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final on Sunday at the Australian Open.
The American 29th seed came through a rollercoaster 10-point deciding tiebreak to beat 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10/7) on Rod Laver Arena.
He faces 18th-seeded Karen Khachanov next after the Russian crushed Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-0, 7-6 (7/4), incredibly winning the first 14 games before the Japanese player woke up.
Korda, whose father Petr won the title in 1998, produced one of the performances of his career to upset two-time Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev in the third round.
After more heroics against Poland’s Hurkacz, Korda said his displays were down to learning from previous blockbuster matches he had lost, including to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
“I think I’m really good at just kind of moving forward, learning from my mistakes, what I’ve done in the past, then using them in matches like this,” he said.
“I’ve had a tough match with Rafa, serving for it a couple times. Match point with Djokovic. I think that really helped me, especially in the last match (in Melbourne) with Medvedev.
“Then today as well. I think all those little moments that I’ve gone through, kind of learning from them, staying patient, staying positive, going through the process, I think have really helped me going forward.”
Elsewhere, Jiri Lehecka stunned Felix Auger-Aliassime to surge into the quarter-finals in only his fifth Grand Slam appearance as yet another seed fell.
The 21-year-old Czech was knocked out in the first round at the four majors last year but was too hot for the sixth-seeded Canadian on Margaret Court Arena, winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3).
It was his first defeat ever of a top-10 player and built on his victories over ATP Masters 1000 champions Borna Coric and Cameron Norrie in earlier rounds.
“Honestly, it feels amazing,” said Lehecka, who has climbed 70 places in the rankings over the past year to 71.
“It’s tough to find the words because what I’ve been through in the last year and now coming back to Australia.