Sebastian Korda returned to tennis from a month-long injury break with an addition to his coaching staff and a shiny new Nike sponsorship, but the American was taken out in the first round of the Atlanta Open by qualifier Taro Daniel.
Sebastian Korda’s return to tennis after an injury break to heal shin splints ended in a first round ouster. The young American was upset in the first round of the Atlanta Open at the hands of qualifier Taro Daniel. Korda came into the event with a new addition to his coaching staff (former Belgian player Xavier Malisse) and a new sponsor (Nike) and hopes to turn his flagging spring season around.
He started off strong, zipping through the first set and winning all but one point on serve. There were no signs of the shin issues that kept Korda out of Wimbledon.
Trouble immediately began brewing for Korda in the second set. The American was broken straight away after a marathon first game. From there, Korda’s serve began to deteriorate. He did not hold serve once in the set. The single game he won was a break for 3-1; he didn’t win another game in the set.
The third set was level through the seventh game, but with Korda serving at 3-4 Daniel once again pressed and secured the service break and with it the opportunity to serve out the match.
Daniel will take on No. 4 seed Frances Tiafoe in the second round.
The good news for Korda is that there is plenty of time to shake off the rust before the U.S. Open, and an ATP representative confirmed that the shin splint injury was not a factor in Monday’s loss.
bad loss