Sebastian Korda is finding form in his first tournament since Roland Garros. The American, who was battling a right shin stress fracture this summer, has won two matches at the Winston-Salem Open to reach the quarter-finals.
Despite dropping the opening set Wednesday, the 11th seed Korda was unbroken en route to a 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4 victory against Poland's Kamil Majchrzak.
“It was a rollercoaster today, I was just waiting my turn," said the 25-year-old Korda, No. 86 in the PIF ATP Rankings. "He was playing some great tennis, so I was just waiting to see if his level dipped a little bit. Luckily, I played a solid second game in the second set and started playing a lot better.”
The American won 82 per cent of his first-serve points and saved all six break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Korda will next meet 13th seed Miomir Kecmanovic, whom he is tied with at 1-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Korda beat the Serbian in this year’s Adelaide semi-finals. Kecmanovic ousted third seed Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-1 in 58 minutes to advance while Kecmanovic's countryman Hamad Medjedovic beat fourth seed Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-2.
Darderi and Diallo's losses mean that none of the top-four seeds remain at the ATP 250, where top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and second seed Tallon Griekspoor were upset on Tuesday.
Buyunchaokete became the first Chinese player to reach the Winston-Salem last eight in tournament history when he defeated Mariano Navone 6-4, 6-4, backing up his Tuesday upset against top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Ninth seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard won the all-French battle against Alexandre Muller 6-3, 6-2 and Hungarian Marton Fucsovics downed 2017 champion Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-3.
Botic van de Zandschulp was bagelled in the opening set against Sebastian Baez, but the Dutchman recovered to close the day with a 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory against the 2023 champion.
Watch Extended Highlights from Wednesday’s Winston-Salem action:
