It was a balancing act for Sebastian Korda’s parents not to drop too many “when I was your age on tour” words of wisdom in the family home growing up.
Careful to let their three prodigious children choose their own sports – Korda played ice hockey, golf, taekwondo and tennis – and decide whether to forge a career in them, there were times a less-is-more approach worked best.
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Once Korda ditched ice hockey as a teenager for the sport his parents – Australian Open 1998 champion Petra Korda and former top-30 player Regina Rajchrtova – excelled in, there was never a shortage of star input if needed.
READ: 10 players who followed their parents into tennis
His dad saluted at Melbourne Park against Marcelo Rios, an all-left-handed final on the green Rebound Ace two-and-a-half years before millennium baby Korda was born.
It was a run that Korda didn’t mind hearing about, particularly as he navigated his way to the junior title in 2018 and in three trips to the main draw since, a campaign from which a key piece of advice stuck.
“It’s something that he’ll occasionally talk about,” Korda told ausopen.com in Brisbane. “He’ll just tell stories of certain matches and how he got ready for each and every round.
“I don’t think he was playing too well early in the tournament and that’s pretty helpful when you know you’re not playing your best but just to keep patient, keep working hard and your game will find itself.”
Petr was coaching Radek Stepanek at the time the Czech faced Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of US Open 2011 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in a twilight session.
It was the moment a nine-year-old Korda, who watched from the stands, decided to shift his focus to tennis.
He quickly made up ground on earlier starters and his ascent to a junior Grand Slam champion some seven years later made waves in American tennis ranks.
In 2020, he was invited to train at the Las Vegas home of the legendary Andre Agassi, whom his dad won the 1993 Cincinnati doubles title alongside.
Korda was only six months old when Agassi won the third of his Australian Open crowns and two-and-a-half when the American won his fourth and final Slam at Melbourne Park in 2003.
The American great’s approach immediately resonated.
“Just his whole life story is pretty cool, how he went about his business,” Korda said. “The type of stuff he’d do was way different versus everyone else on tour.
“Hearing all the stories is pretty incredible. He’s just a person who thinks about tennis in a way different way. Just a lot of fun being around him.”
READ: Top 10 mentor connections – Hewitt, De Minaur to Agassi, Korda
Two significant milestones were reached in 2024 when Korda cracked the top 20 for the first time in June and picked up his second tour title and first at ATP 500 level less than two months later at the Washington Open.
It was the first time a father and son had claimed the same title in ATP Tour history.
Two significant milestones were reached in 2024 when Korda cracked the top 20 for the first time in June and picked up his second tour title and first at ATP 500 level less than two months later at the Washington Open.
It was the first time a father and son had claimed the same title in ATP Tour history.
Though he climbed to a career-high mark of world No.15 following a Montreal Masters semifinal, an elbow injury soon derailed his progress at his home Slam and required surgery.
“I was definitely pretty pissed off at the US Open. I just wasn’t happy, but I was surrounded by a lot of great people and luckily my surgery went really well. That was pretty easy and then after that spending a lot of time at home recovering and getting ready for this year.
“I had a lot of injuries [last year], that’s for sure. Still struggling with my wrist, obviously had my elbow during the US Open. Overall, it was a pretty positive year though.
“I didn’t play too well in the first part of the year, then started to really find my game in the second part, unfortunate with the elbow but I guess that’s tennis. Hopefully I can stay healthy this year.”
Agassi is still only a phone call away in a mentor role.
“It’s not easy with both of our schedules but we’re still in contact and he’s still an amazing person in my life,” Korda said.
Where it could have been all too easy for a young Korda to suffer an overload of superstar words of wisdom, the now 24-year-old and his team have been careful not to complicate matters.
“I think that’s one of the great things about tennis. There’s no right way to do it, you do it your own way and I think that’s the way you should do it,” Korda said.
“Try to be authentic, try to be unique and not try to be someone else. I think if you can be yourself, be free out there, I think your level of tennis grows and you start to really enjoy it after that.”