‘Composed’ Korda back in business with serving clinic in Hangzhou

  • Posted: Sep 19, 2025

Sebastian Korda has had his fair share of injury woes in recent times, but he bounced back from his latest one in clinical fashion on Friday at the Lynk & Co Hangzhou Open.

The 25-year-old American, who was forced to retire from his first round at the US Open last month, returned with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Adam Walton at the Chinese ATP 250 event. Korda dropped serve in the opening game but reeled off four straight games from 3-5 in the first set and fired 20 aces throughout the 87-minute first-round clash.

“It was a tough match. He started off great… I didn’t start off too well, but I kept my composure as much as I could,” said Korda. “I thought I served really well, and when you serve well it’s a lot easier, so I’m very happy with the performance today.”

Korda was also sidelined for two-and-a-half months due to a right shin stress fracture after Roland Garros and made his return in Winston-Salem, where he withdrew ahead of his semi-final match. Into the second round on his Hangzhou debut, Korda next meets Chinese wild card Wu Yibing.

After beginning the year as the No. 22 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Korda now sits at No. 79 with a 15-11 record in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He reached the Adelaide final in January and made the quarter-final at the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami before injuries hampered his progress.

Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata also advanced on Friday after a hard-fought 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over fifth seed Camilo Ugo Carabelli — just his second win from nine tour-level matches this season. Hijikata converted 13 of 17 break points to set a second-round meeting with Tomas Martin Etcheverry, which will be their first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash.

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