Sebastian Korda rallies to beat Ben Shelton in three sets at the Shanghai Masters
Sebastian Korda of the United States returns a shot to his compatriot Ben Shelton during the men's singles quarterfinal match of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Credit: AP/Andy Wong
SHANGHAI — Sebastian Korda reached the semifinals at a Masters tournament for the first time by rallying to beat Ben Shelton 6-7, (10), 6-2, 7-6 (6) Thursday at the Shanghai Masters.
It was the first all-American Masters quarterfinal match since 2017 and both players were two points from winning at the end.
“I’m just thankful to stay calm,” said Korda, who won on his sixth match point. “I played some bad points but I always believed in myself, even at 6-6 (in the final tiebreaker). I just thought about putting the return in the court, somehow getting my racquet on it and luckily I finished it off then.”
The 23-year-old Korda also reached the semifinals at the Zhuhai Open and the Astana Open on the tour's Asia swing.
The 19th-seeded Shelton, playing in his first Masters quarterfinal, had 17 aces but Korda broke his serve five times.
Korda will play Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals after the Polish player rallied to beat 82nd-ranked Fabian Marozsan 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Hurkacz lost only nine points on serve in the second and third sets.
Sebastian Korda of the United States celebrates after defeating his compatriot Ben Shelton during the men's singles quarterfinal match in the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Credit: AP/Andy Wong
“He came with some really great shots, and I just needed to stay positive and keep committing to the gameplan,” Hurkacz said. “To be aggressive, because if I dropped anything short he was just taking advantage of it and coming with some really incredible shots. I knew I had to stay on point today.”
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