Sebastian Korda had a little message for the Rome crowd following his opening win as the American tennis star says he still has nothing but love for them despite “inappropriate talk” coming from the stands throughout his match versus Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.
After a first-round bye, No. 24 seed Korda kicked off his Rome campaign on Friday with a hard-earned 7-6 (6) 4-6 6-4 win over rising Italian star Cobolli. Moments after the match, Korda turned to a group of fans and started silencing them.
In Rome, fans usually turn up in big ways for home players so Cobolli receiving a very strong support against Korda wasn’t a surprise. But according to Korda, some were crossing the line and delivering some inappropriate words to his girlfriend Ivana Nedved, the daughter of football legend Pavel Nedved.
“Shoutout to the fans behind me for talking inappropriately about my girlfriend, family and team for 2.5hrs. Thank you for the extra motivation. Still love yall,” Korda wrote on X.
Shoutout to the fans behind me for talking inappropriately about my girlfriend, family and team for 2.5hrs. Thank you for the extra motivation 🙏💪
Still love yall🇮🇹❤️ https://t.co/sJxT2KmsT1
— Sebastian Korda (@SebiKorda) May 10, 2024
Korda ended victorious in a big fight versus Cobolli
After no breaks were seen in the first set, the opener had to be resolved in a tie-break – where Korda missed out on his first set point at 6-5 but earned his second at 7-6 and realized to win a very tight opener that lasted an hour.
In the second set, Korda missed out on some early break points in the fourth game and paid the price for that as Cobolli later earned a break in the ninth game for a 5-4 lead and served out for the set in the following game.
At the start of the third set, Korda found himself in a trouble again after blowing two break points in the second game and then getting broken in the following game.
Down by a break, Korda managed to bounce back and escape a surprise defeat after claiming breaks in the sixth and 10th games to overturn the deficit and complete his three-set win over Cobolli.
Korda plays Taylor Fritz in his next match.