Korda pulls off another upset at the Australian Open

Sebastian Korda, a Giantkiller, said that he learned from his mistakes and was able to surge into the maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at Sunday’s Australian Open.

American 29th seed, Hubert Hurkacz, beat the American 3-6,6-3, 6-2 and 1-6 in a thrilling 10-point tiebreak.

After Yoshihito Nishioka was defeated 6-0, 6-0 and 7-6 (7/4), he will face 18th-seeded Karen Khachanov.

Petr Korda won the title in 1998. Korda produced one of the best performances of his career, to beat Daniil Medvedev, two-time Australian Open finalist, in the third round.

After more heroics against Poland’s Hurkacz Korda stated that his displays were due to lessons learned from blockbuster matches he lost to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

He said, “I think that I’m really good at just sort of moving forward, learning my mistakes, and then using them in matches such as this.”

“I had a difficult match with Rafa. I served for it a few times. Match point with Djokovic. That really helped me, especially in my match with Medvedev (in Melbourne).

“And then today, too. All those small moments, learning from them, being patient, positive, and persevering through it all, have helped me move forward.

Jiri Lehecka shocked Felix Auger-Aliassime, allowing him to make it into the quarter-finals. This was his fifth Grand Slam appearance.

Although the Czech 21-year-old was eliminated in round one of the four majors last season, the Czech won 4-6, 6-3 and 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3).

This was his first loss to a top-10 player. It builds on his earlier victories against Cameron Norrie and Borna Coric, ATP Masters 1000 champions.

Lehecka said, “Honestly, it’s amazing,” and has risen 70 places to the top of the rankings in the last year to 71.

“It’s hard to find the words, because of what I’ve experienced in the past year and now coming home to Australia.