Sebastian Korda is trying to get back among the top American men at the US Open after injuries

NEW YORK (AP) — There was a time, not all that long ago, when any conversation about the up-and-coming U.S. players in men’s tennis included a reference to Sebastian Korda. He made it to the fourth round of the 2020 French Open as a 20-year-old qualifier ranked No. 213 before losing to his idol, Rafael Nadal.

The following year, Korda became the youngest American man to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon since Andy Roddick was a semifinalist there in 2003. And in 2023, Korda made it to the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career at the Australian Open.

Injuries derailed Korda’s progress, though, including surgery on his right elbow last year and a stress fracture in his right shin this year. He was sidelined following the French Open in May until this week, when he returned to the tour at the hard-court Winston-Salem Open, a chance to prepare for the U.S. Open, which begins Sunday.

“It was a long time,” the 25-year-old Korda, who reached the Winston-Salem Open semifinals but withdrew because of an illness Friday, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But it’s nice to be playing again.”

He grew up in as sports-forward a family as there is: His parents were professional tennis players — Mom, Regina, was ranked in the top 30, and Dad, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open and was the runner-up at the 1992 French Open — and his sisters, Nelly (ranked No. 1 until recently) and Jessica, are professional golfers.

After the shin problem was confirmed by an MRI exam, Korda needed a bit of a break, and only was back to hitting balls at 100% about two weeks ago. But he didn’t exactly come to a complete stop before that, still swinging a racket while sitting on a chair and wearing a boot to protect his leg.

“It’s been a lot of fun being back out here and running around,” Korda said. “Something I won’t ever take for granted again is being able to run pain-free.”

Just about exactly a year ago, he was at a career-high No. 15 in the ATP rankings thanks to winning the title in Washington and making it to the semifinals in Montreal.

Back then, there was little reason to believe he wasn’t ready to keep on climbing, right alongside other Americans such as Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul.

But Korda’s body wouldn’t let him. First, he was out of action because of the operation on his elbow. Then came the trouble with the shin.

When the rankings points he earned in Washington and Montreal came off his record because he missed both events this year, Korda slid all the way down to No. 86.

Before getting to Winston-Salem, Korda had competed in only 21 matches in 2025, going 11-10.

“I definitely haven’t been playing healthy. That’s kind of the main goal right now,” Korda said. “I’m not comparing myself to anyone, but definitely, there’s a lot of motivation from seeing your peers doing so well — Ben, Taylor, Frances, Tommy, (Alex) Michelsen, Learner (Tien). They’re all pushing each other. We’re all pushing each other.”

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis